Budget Deficit Forces Guilford College To Cut Positions

Guilford College plans to cut 52 positions to close a $2 million budget deficit. The college is struggling with declining enrollment.

The News and Record reports the private liberal arts school will eliminate 40 staff positions and 12 faculty jobs before the start of the fall semester, mostly through retirements and resignations.

The college's president, Jane Fernandes, says that most of the affected positions are not currently filled. Fewer than 20 Guilford employees will be laid off.

Fernandes adds that no academic programs or departments will be cut, and no tenured or tenure-track faculty members will lose their jobs.

The college is facing a $2 million budget deficit this year, largely because enrollment has declined for five straight years.

Fernandes blamed much of the enrollment decline on the demise of a state program that awarded annual scholarships to North Carolina residents who attended private in-state colleges.