Overview:
University of New Hampshire faces financial headwinds due to declining enrollment and state funding cuts.
If Alex Marshall had known back when he was applying to colleges that the cuts would happen, he might not be a student at the University of New Hampshire.
Student services are on the chopping block once again as the Granite State’s university system faces financial headwinds, including a clawback of state funding. Enrollment is declining, and after a six-year freeze, tuition is rising.
Marshall, a sophomore from Illinois, pays $46,815 each year with scholarships to attend UNH.
“At this point, transferring is such hassle, I won’t unless it gets much, much worse. I don’t see what the appeal is at UNH,” said Marshall, who attended a small protest held by UNH College Democrats Wednesday.
The Republican-led legislature chopped $18 million from its contributions to the University System of New Hampshire over the next two years. UNH received 69.3% of the total amount of state funding for USNH in 2025, and if that percentage were to remain the same, UNH’s funding would decrease from $65.9 million in 2025 to $53.4 million in 2027.
The impacts are already showing.
Siena Schaier, a sophomore political science and international affairs major, was “very excited” to embark on a semester in Washington, D.C., where UNH has offered students internships and academic opportunities for nearly 50 years.
But the Washington Center, as it’s called, did not survive the cuts. Neither did any other domestic study-away programs — UNH recently canceled them all.
“I think the university is doing the best they can to preserve the student experience. I don’t want to place blame on the university because I know they didn’t choose to do this,” Schaier said. “It’s not their fault. It’s our state legislature’s fault.”
This is hardly the first time UNH has withstood budget cuts.
Other cost-saving efforts in recent years have led to a downsizing in UNH’s Psychological and Counseling Services. The Health and Wellness Center also closed its pharmacy, leaving students unable to access certain medical needs after the Durham Rite Aid, the only other pharmacy in town, shuttered its doors.
The closest pharmacies are now in the next towns over, Dover and Lee, which students without their own transportation must rely on a UNH bus to reach.
Emma Galbraith, a junior sustainability dual major from Massachusetts, is worried about where she’ll procure her next COVID shot, since the university health center doesn’t offer them. The same goes for medications.
She figures her parents could make the hour-long drive to bring her prescription refills if necessary, but that wouldn’t be ideal.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen if I get sick and I need antibiotics immediately, like the next day,” Galbraith said. The other option is to have medications shipped, which she said could take too long. “I won’t be able to get the things I need to take care of myself.”
The University System of New Hampshire, which also includes Plymouth State University and Keene State College, received $95 million from the state last year.
Republicans in the House of Representatives initially slashed that funding by about a third, though Ayotte and the state Senate agreed on funding higher education at $87 million this year and $77 million next year. It’s not yet clear how the cuts will be divided among the state’s three public universities.
In addition to state and federal funding uncertainties, declining enrollment and a growing financial budget deficit have forced the UNH to make cuts across the board.
UNH’s full-time enrollment in fall 2024 across all campuses hit a six-year high of 15,291 students. Since the fall of 2017, however, enrollment at the main campus in Durham saw an 11% decrease from 15,012 students to 13,598 in the fall of 2024, according to data from UNH.
Recent cuts have affected students of all grades and disciplines of study. Some of these began during the administration of University President James Dean, and in 2024, 65 full-time positions were cut entirely as part of a round of layoffs. As a cost-saving measure, 30 more positions were eliminated earlier this year.
In total, during the 2023-2024 school year, the University cut 4% of its budget across the board, accounting for $11 million in funds.
Considering further declines in enrollment and the new state budget, UNH President Elizabeth Chilton announced a further 3% in spending cuts across the university.
Lorrie Stevens and Emily Kaiser, two senior music education majors, said they have noticed the changes brought on by these cuts.
During their sophomore year, the university cut the position occupied by Susan Adams, the music department’s senior program support assistant.
Stevens and Kaiser are both employed by the music department.
“Often our faculty walk out of faculty meetings looking really stressed,” Stevens said.
Kaiser said she fears the department is on its last legs.
“I feel like we’re one of the next that could go, and it sucks, because I know they’ve gotten rid of journalism, and I heard they’re getting rid of the equine studies program,” she said.
Cuts have affected not only academic programs but student life itself.
In 2019, UNH dining was ranked as high as 23rd for best college food in America by Niche. The following year, the University permanently closed one of its three dining halls, Stillings, keeping only Philbrook and Holloway Commons open.
For this academic year, only one dining hall is open on weekends, which has led to an increase in foot traffic and has limited students’ access to fresh offerings and ability to find seating.
Sophomores Zach Forton and Aidan Ahren noted the food quality in the dining halls has declined as compared to their freshman year.
“With Philly being closed on weekends, you can assume that this is going to be slammed pretty much every weekend,” Forton said.
Forton and Ahren said stir fry was all they ate last year.
This year, “the food’s just not good,” Ahren said.