From Columbia employees being placed on leave to rising debt requirement breaches, here are the top-line figures from some of our biggest stories of the week.
By the numbers
3
The number of Columbia University employees who were placed on leave after text exchanges among several administrators were leaked. The messages — reportedly sent during a late May panel on antisemitism and the campus climate in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war — caught the attention of Rep. Virginia Foxx, a North Carolina Republican who called the exchanges “disparaging.”
12
The number of colleges rated by S&P Global Ratings that have breached bond and loan stipulations since last June. In a new report, analysts at the credit ratings agency viewed the breaches as a sign of mounting financial pressure on colleges.
9
How many on-campus programs Concordia University Ann Arbor plans to keep starting in June 2025. That’s down from 53 currently listed by the Lutheran institution, which is making dramatic cuts to remedy a $9 million budget deficit.
$52 million
University of Arizona’s projected deficit for fiscal 2025. The institution has shrunk that figure down from $177 million, though officials are still working out how to account for recent state funding cuts, including a $6.6 million budget reduction for its main campus.
$4.9 million
The operating deficit Eastern Nazarene College faced in fiscal 2023. The Christian nonprofit announced plans to wind down operations, citing intensifying financial challenges and sectorwide struggles.
