Emerson laid off 30 staff members—a 5% reduction in staff—in late July. The college’s enrollment and total revenue fell “below projections” for the second year in a row, according to an email sent by the college to faculty and staff announcing the reduction.
The college also announced a “voluntary separation program” aimed at reducing full-time faculty proportionally to affiliated faculty. The plan went live on Monday, and was created with the goal of “[providing] special benefits to eligible employees who voluntarily resign from employment with Emerson College,” according to resources available in Emerson’s Human Resources portal. Benefits include a severance package including healthcare and a $10,000 lump sum payment, according to the website. Additionally, the college announced that the highest-paid executives and administrators, who “[make] up 10% of [Emerson’s] non-union professional staff,” will not receive salary increases in 2026. The college confirmed with The Beacon that all individuals affected by staff reductions have been informed.
12 of the 30 employees laid off were part of the Emerson Staff Union—which has less than 200 members—according to a press release sent by the union to the Beacon. In an attempt to mitigate the layoffs, the union said that they approached upper management to negotiate a deal to “[redirect] our members’ retirement matching contributions to roll back layoffs,” which the college ultimately declined. The union’s press release then went on to say that “student-facing services” have been hit the hardest by budget cuts—including the library, costume shop personnel, the Writing and Academic Resource Center, and the Instructional Technology Group.
“In our L.A. campus (ELA), we’ve seen a reduction of 10% in an already lean staff this year. ELA lost a similar number of staff members last year to layoffs,” the press release said. “These reductions exacerbate existing staffing shortages as identified in a recent ESU-management staffing report.”
Ahead of the 2024-25 academic year, Emerson laid off ten faculty and staff members after announcing a 5% enrollment decline. The drop was partly attributed to “negative press and social media” following student-led pro-Palestine demonstrations and the arrest of 118 people in April, 2024. Last summer, President Jay Bernhardt wrote in an email to Emerson community members that the enrollment decline was anticipated to last for one year, but would impact the college’s budget for the next several fiscal years. Emerson has not posted updated admission or enrollment numbers since 2022.
“President Bernhardt remains confident in Emerson’s future and focused on implementing Extraordinary Emerson 2030, the college’s strategic plan,” a college spokesperson wrote in an email statement to The Beacon. “[Bernhardt] recognizes the leadership’s work during a challenging period for higher education to keep the college vibrant, innovative, and sustainable.”
Extraordinary Emerson 2030 is a strategic plan meant to guide the college’s mission of “inclusivity” and “innovation” over the next five years as the institution reaches its 150th anniversary in 2030. Specific personnel changes, including the hiring of an “inaugural Dean of the Emerson Los Angeles campus,” and the creation of the School of Film, Television, and Media Arts, were announced in tandem with the strategic plan.
Emerson is not the only school reducing staff amid declining enrollment trends. Boston University recently announced the layoff of 120 staff members, and other private institutions nationwide are making similar cuts due to revenue falling short of projections.
“With reductions affecting support for students with disabilities, international students, and instructional support services, we are concerned about Emerson’s ability to maintain its inclusive mission as we approach the College’s 150th anniversary in 2030,” the union’s statement read.
