Worcester Business Journal

26 Worcester Business Journal | December 29, 2025 | wbjournal.com HIGHER EDUCATION Community colleges step up BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer T he higher education land- scape of Central Massachu- setts was dichotomous in 2025 as enrollment at com- munity colleges soared while universities were impacted by the federal government's crackdown on immigra- tion. Next year will see a deepening of the role community colleges play in the higher education industry. University cutbacks In 2025, UMass Chan Medical School and Clark University implemented hiring freezes/pauses, and the latter announced it would reduce its faculty size by up to 30%. Next year, universities will find ways to cut costs, from layoffs to degree cuts. Renewed focus on domestic students Trump's attack on immigration put many Central Massachusetts students' legal statuses in jeopardy, including at Clark University and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. With institutions fiscally relying on international students, universities will find ways to make up for student losses by shiing domestic recruitment strategies and offering inter- national remote opportunities. Community college plays a larger role e region's community colleges expe- rienced record-high headcounts in 2025. Growth is expected to remain elevated with the state's MassReconnect and MassEducate programs, so community colleges will work to bolster wraparound services, including child care, food pan- tries, and transportation. Clark University to lay off up to 30% of faculty, significantly restructure degree tracks amid financial strain In response to financial challenges and a dramatically reduced incoming freshman class, Clark University in Worcester will restructure its degree tracks and layoff up to 30% of its faculty. For this upcoming fall, Clark's en- tering undergraduate class is currently underenrolled by about 80 to 100 stu- dents, representing a nearly 20% drop from the school's projected incoming class of 525, Clark President David Fithian told WBJ. Additionally, the university's grad- uate school enrollment is up in the air as Clark and the country as a whole are waiting to see the effects of the President Donald Trump Administration's crack- down on immigration, greatly impacting their international student populations. With 82% of its graduate school consisting of international students, Clark was ranked the 9th school in the nation most dependent on international students by e New York Times, higher on the list than Ivy League schools including Harvard University, Princeton University, and Brown University. In combination with rising oper- ational expenses, such as supplies, contracts with dining services, and wraparound services, these figures mean the university will need to significantly scale back its em- ployee count. "We have to contract to a right-size institution in response to fewer students, and that will quite unfortunately and regrettably mean some reduction force," said Fithian. Going forward, the school will reduce its staff by about 5% over the next year and reduce its faculty by about 25% to 30% over the next two years, including part-time faculty who have not been renewed. e personnel decisions will affect non-tenure track faculty, pre-ten- ure faculty, and adjunct faculty. It is too early to determine whether or not the layoffs will impact tenured faculty since there are a number of procedural steps needing to be addressed before those members would be affected. is faculty contraction will slightly raise Clark's student to faculty ratio from about 7/8:1 to about 10:1. Furthermore, since September, the university has implemented an across- the-board hiring freeze. "We have a commitment to our current folks as fully as we can. We're not going to hire new folks unless people leave of their own volition from positions that we absolutely cannot keep vacant," said Fithian. ese financial strains and reduced workforce have challenged the univer- sity to think differently about how it fulfills its mission, which will include restructuring the university's major and minor offerings, he said. e university does not have plans to cut any more majors or minors since closing three degree programs in April, but instead, Clark is orchestrating a reconfiguration of its different schools to promote more interdisciplinary degree tracks. Top higher ed stories from 2025 W PHOTO | WBJ FILE David Fithian, president of Clark University James Vander Hooven, president of Mount Wachusett Community College, has worked to provide more wraparound services to students as the college's headcount rose 20.28% from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2024 and its full-time equivalent enrollment grew 23.17%.

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