The New School in New York City has laid off 19 professors—including nine tenured faculty members—as part of a broader institutional restructuring aimed at addressing ongoing financial challenges. The university, which enrolls roughly 8,500 students, has also dismissed 68 staff members and seen additional faculty departures through buyouts and early retirements, reducing full-time faculty from 430 to 387 over the course of one year.

The cuts come amid a reorganization that merges the Parsons School of Design and the College of Performing Arts into one arts-focused college, while combining the New School for Social Research and the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts into another. University administrators contend the changes are necessary to curb deficits driven by declining enrollment, pivot resources toward growing programs, and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration.

Provost Richard Kessler said the economics department, which lost Professor Sanjay Reddy—the only economics professor to be laid off—was determined to have excess teaching capacity relative to demand. Reddy, who had been with the university for 17 years, challenged the university’s rationale, arguing that he was dismissed for raising concerns about the institution's financial management, including administrative bloat and problematic real estate ventures. He was offered the choice of stepping down early with severance or staying until December without severance and chose the latter.

Reddy’s termination has drawn attention from prominent academics worldwide, including Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz. Hundreds of professors have signed a letter calling for greater transparency regarding the criteria used for layoffs. Critics contend that targeting tenured faculty outside of eliminated programs jeopardizes academic freedom and undermines the traditional protections of tenure.

The New School maintains that the restructuring and layoffs comply with its faculty handbook, which allows the dismissal of tenured faculty when “serious financial considerations or curricular changes” necessitate program discontinuation or reorganization. However, this interpretation is contested by some experts, including representatives from the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), which holds that tenure protections generally limit layoffs to cases involving program elimination or financial emergencies.

Paul Kottman, a tenured comparative literature scholar and master’s program chair also affected by the layoffs, described the decision as potentially setting a troubling precedent, particularly at an institution historically committed to academic freedom.

The cuts have disproportionately impacted the social science and liberal arts divisions at the New School for Social Research and Eugene Lang College, where enrollment has declined more sharply than in the arts programs. The history department, for example, lost three faculty members to layoffs, with two more taking early retirement under pressure, leading some to question the department’s ability to maintain a robust curriculum.

While some faculty members see opportunities emerging from the restructuring—including the potential for new doctoral programs and interdisciplinary collaboration—others view the changes as eroding the university’s foundational mission. Judith Friedlander, a former dean and historian of the institution, called the restructuring a direct assault on the New School’s progressive social research legacy.

University leadership argues the shift reflects changing student demand, noting that 70 to 80 percent of enrollments now center on design and creative education, primarily through Parsons, which relies heavily on adjunct instructors rather than full-time tenured faculty. Administrators say these adjustments are essential to align expenses with revenues and position the university for long-term sustainability.