A government shutdown began on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to reach an agreement over the federal budget. Although funding for most current research projects at the 5Cs remains untouched, the shutdown could cause uncertainty regarding funding for new research grant applications.
Dean Gerstein, director of sponsored research at Pomona College, wrote in an email to Pomona faculty on Monday morning that Pomona grants are fully funded upon grant receipt, and funds that have already been issued will not be impacted.
“Agency program personnel cannot review or process new applications or approve reports,” Gerstein wrote in the email. “Many federal contractors, like grantees, are forward-funded and able to operate normally.”
In the email, Gerstein said that consequences for research initiatives remain uncertain given the length of the shutdown.
“Much is subject to change over time, especially if the shutdown goes on and on and on and on,” he wrote. “For example, the administration has said that instead of temporary furloughs, it may permanently suspend certain operations by terminating the employment of all the personnel who perform them.”
In the last government shutdown, which occurred in 2018 under Trump, scientists and university researchers felt the consequences of the shutdown of funding for data, research grants and research sites, in many cases lasting long past when the shutdown ended.
For Harvey Mudd College, about 95 percent of research funding comes from the federal government, primarily through the National Science Foundation, according to Nicole Wallens, director of sponsored research at HMC.
While HMC is heavily reliant on federal aid for research, Wallens said funding allocations have remained untouched so far.
“That, of course, could change as things in Washington evolve,” Wallens said.
As undergraduate liberal arts colleges, the 5Cs are unlikely to face the same challenges as large research universities, according to Geoffrey Herrera, a professor of political science at Pitzer College.
“I think for now, it’s more of a concern for universities or higher education institutions that have graduate programs, that have professional schools that really rely on government research money to support the institution,” Herrera said.
Though there may be a loss of funding for new grants at the moment, Herrera said, it won’t significantly change operations at the colleges.
“Our institutions are heavily dependent on tuition,” he said. “It would be annoying for research money to be cut off … but all that would do is stop the research projects of faculty that depend upon federal funding, which is not insignificant, but the work of the university would go on.”
“ Our institutions are heavily dependent on tuition,” Herrera said. “It would be annoying for research money to be cut off … but all that would do is stop the research projects of faculty that depend upon federal funding, which is not insignificant, but the work of the university would go on.”
A greater concern for the Claremont Colleges, Herrera said, is the potential for further cuts to education similar to what occurred with DOGE in early 2025.
In the recent shutdown, the Department of Education furloughed almost 90 percent of its staff. Faculty are concerned about how permanent layoffs may affect college operations as the shutdown continues.
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