● Citing “significant financial challenges,” Dr. Aminta H. Breaux, president of Bowie State University, has announced that the university plans to cut 79 positions through vacancies, reorganization and layoffs.
● The cuts come as the public, suburban HBCU — which serves just over 5,000 undergraduates — faces an estimated fiscal 2027 shortfall of about $18 million. Breaux blamed the deficit on a “combination of factors” that include reduced state and federal funding, declining enrollment and rising operational costs. “In addition, lower enrollment projections are affecting tuition, fee and auxiliary revenues,” Breaux said in her statement. “Together, these challenges point to a broader structural gap that will require thoughtful, sustained action.”
● A forum on the school’s FY27 budget is set to take place May 15 in the Student Center Ballroom.
The bigger picture:
As has been the case for several public universities in Maryland, layoffs have been lurking on the horizon for Bowie State since this time last year, when the University of Maryland System Board of Regents unanimously approved a resolution that allowed university leaders to “take personnel actions” to address a state budget shortfall in FY 2026.
While Bowie State avoided layoffs in the last budget cycle, it now joins several institutions of higher education in the state that are implementing layoffs for FY 2027 amid ongoing budget constraints. The University of Maryland at College Park, for example, announced on April 27 that it was eliminating 150 positions and putting a hiring freeze in effect through at least June 30.
While Breaux’s message ascribes Bowie State’s financial problems to many of the same factors that are affecting other institutions throughout the state and the nation, another factor to consider is the fact that Maryland’s four HBCUs — of which Bowie State is the oldest — have been chronically underfunded, as evidenced in lawsuit that culminated in $577 million settlement between the state and the state’s four HBCUs in 2021. Under the terms of that settlement, Bowie State was awarded $16.7 million for fiscal year 2023 and — like the other HBCUs in the settlement — is supposed to get at least $9 million each year through 2031 or a greater amount based on a formula that takes enrollment into account.
Each HBCU is also supposed to report each year how their settlement money was spent.
