> The University of Washington is not alone in putting things on hold. The University of Pennsylvania, the University of Pittsburgh, and the University of Southern California have also paused or cut their graduate admissions, at least temporarily. Ilya Levental, a biophysicist at the University of Virginia, told me that his program in biomedical sciences reduced the size of its incoming class by 30 percent. In other words, grad school is in trouble. And because grad school trains the next generation of academics—those who will be teaching students, discovering knowledge, and translating science into practice—this means the future of the university itself is in trouble too.
I don't think people understand the damaging long-term effects of what's happening now (and for the next few years).
Academia has been in trouble for a while, what with the exploitation of PhDs and postdocs and low wages - they can't attract or retain the necessary talent. This will just accelerate the decline.
The exploitation is real, but the irony of these cuts as a “savings” is that these underpaid phd candidates and post docs are the cheapest labor possible.
I don't think people understand the damaging long-term effects of what's happening now (and for the next few years).