Chancellor Martin fielded questions from SU senators about the school’s financial situation, among other topics. (Bri Nitsberg | Managing Photo Editor)

In the wake of universities facing financial blows from the Trump administration, Chancellor Andrew Martin, in a Q&A with Student Union (SU), discussed how the University will continue to support need-based scholarships and fill funding gaps caused by the potential cuts to the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) funding. 

Due to the recent increase in the excise tax on endowment tax from 1.4% to 4%, the University estimates that it is losing $37 million that would have otherwise gone to scholarships and, as a result, has pursued some notable fiscal changes, including not giving merit raises to nearly all staff and faculty at the University and a guaranteed tuition increase for the 2026-2027 academic year.

Martin stated the University spends “an extraordinary amount of money” on scholarships given the University’s increase in Pell eligible students from 5% of the student body to 23% over the past 11 years and its recent no-loan financial aid policy. 

“[T]he last thing I would want to do is walk away from any of those commitments, right?” Martin said. “And so a lot of the work that we’re doing to make the rest of the University run in a more economically efficient way is designed to protect that work.”

Treasury representatives and senators asked Martin questions on other budget cuts being made this year. Treasury representative and sophomore Jonathan Lewin opened the Q&A on Sept. 3 by asking about cuts his constituents observed to Student Technology Services (STS) on the South 40 and teaching assistant positions in Engineering departments. 

Martin responded that these changes are part of the University’s objective to be more methodical with its money going forward.

“We’ve also committed to do some things to make the university more efficient,” he said. “[S]ome of the things your constituents are seeing are because of that.”

Despite these alterations to spending, the University will run at a $7 million deficit on its $5.2 billion budget this fiscal year, with three of eight schools running on “modest or immodest deficits,” according to Martin.

There is one outstanding cost not encompassed by the school’s budget looming large over the University: research funding. Senator and junior Jace Slone asked what would become of research in the midst of impending NIH grant cuts, to which Martin said WashU research would nearly grind to a halt if research isn’t federally funded at previous levels.

 “We would have to close 80% of [research at] the University if the federal government stepped away from [funding research],” Martin said. 

WashU’s most recent construction, the Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building, was also supposed to be partially covered by NIH grant funding, but now a larger portion of the building’s $616 million price tag may fall on the University.

“We expected to pay for [the Neuroscience Research Building] through indirect cost recovery from the federal government, right?” Martin said. “That’s something that’s currently up for debate.”

In response, WashU has focused and amplified its lobbying efforts in Washington D.C., with a primary focus on regaining NIH funding. According to nonprofit organization OpenSecrets, which tracks money spent on federal lobbying, WashU’s lobbying expenditures jumped from $250,000 in 2023 to $720,000 in 2024 and $540,000 thus far in 2025. According to Martin, the number of lobbyists from the University also nearly doubled from eight to 15, with Martin also making monthly appearances in Washington D.C.

While senators and treasury representatives expressed dissatisfaction and worry after the Q&A over the University’s handling of financial attacks to the school, Martin stated that WashU is well positioned compared to its peers.

“If you look across the sector, many universities are being hammered. I mean, really, really hammered. [W]e’re in a very fortunate situation.”