The University of Pittsburgh may soon resume admitting students to its Ph.D. programs after pausing admissions last week. A spokesperson said this week the university is “in the early stages of extending Ph.D. offers of admission.”
Pitt declined to define what those early stages entail, however, and a spokesperson did not respond to questions about whether offers were under consideration or actually being made. It’s unclear if some programs were still on hold Thursday while others could move forward.
A spokesperson said the pause initially applied to all programs. But a source familiar with the School of Medicine told WESA that medical program Ph.D. admissions never stopped.
Pitt and research universities like it could be faced with a multimillion-dollar budget gap as the Trump administration seeks to enforce deep spending cuts by the National Institutes of Health. Pitt is among the top 10 recipients of NIH funding across the country. The new policy, which was set to take effect earlier this month, would cut funding for ancillary research expenses such as building construction, lab leases, equipment and support staff.
The policy would cap the percentage of additional aid awarded alongside research grants to 15%. Pitt’s current rate is 59%, and some other major research universities receive rates that are even higher.
A federal judge extended a temporary restraining order that prevents the cuts from taking effect last week. But while the nation’s higher education sector awaits a formal ruling from the courts, a WESA analysis found that grant awards from the NIH have already slowed dramatically during the Trump administration’s first month.
In the meantime, Pitt said it is continuing to analyze how its budget could be impacted by the proposed cuts.
“All parts of the University are strategically planning offers to align with anticipated fiscal constraints,” Pitt said in a statement. The school did not describe what those fiscal constraints could look like, but under the lower cap on ancillary research costs, Pitt could be looking at a budget gap near $115 million, according to 2024 figures.
Other schools are taking similar measures amid funding uncertainty. According to the Daily Pennsylvanian, the University of Pennsylvania is in the process of significantly reducing admissions rates across graduate programs.
Pitt declined to answer questions about whether the university would similarly reduce admissions rates this semester but suggested in a statement that such a reconfiguration could be under consideration.
“Our goal is to properly support existing community members while also responsibly adding new members to the community,” Pitt said.
