Recent changes in federal funding policy are impacting computer science academics across the United States. Federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation, which funds a significant portion of computer science research, are reviewing their grants to comply with recent executive orders issued by President Donald J. Trump.

Thomas Conte, associate dean for research at the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), said a lot of uncertainty exists in his department since the announcements began.

“Many faculty members were deeply upset and some of our Ph.D. students wondered if their thesis topics were no longer allowed,” said Conte. “The impact has already been grave emotionally. If all the proposed changes happen, the impact will be significant and devastating.”

Impact on faculty hiring varies across institutions

Many computer science departments are not yet seeing significant changes to faculty hiring from the funding changes. However, computer science leaders are cautious and watchful.

“We calibrated our faculty hiring in line with rate of replacement, rather than expansion—while still being strategic about recruiting in areas where we see demand/growth potential,” says Magdalena Balazinska, director of the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. “We have gone through a period of rapid, significant growth in recent years, so while we think it’s prudent for us to slow down during a period of uncertainty, we are not pulling back entirely.”

However, Chris Umans, a professor of computer science and executive officer for computing and mathematical sciences at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech), has not seen a discernible impact on hiring thus far. He said that CalTech is actually in the midst of making a number of faculty offers greater than their department’s historical average over the past several years.

Potential impact on graduate programs

Many universities are also very concerned about the impact of the changes to the graduate programs. Because the changes were announced in the middle of admissions, many schools have not seen an impact yet but may in the future.

At CalTech, graduate admissions are largely determined by individual faculty. Because some are holding back due to funding uncertainty while others are not, Umans says the overall picture seems similar to that of last year.

The situation is currently similar at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Nancy Amato, Abel Bliss professor of engineering and director of the university’s Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, said that because the Ph.D. and thesis master’s student admissions decisions for the coming year had mostly been completed when the potential funding changes were announced, the school has not decreased admissions or rescinded offers. However, she said that might not be the case in the future. 

“Just in our school we have over 300 students, primarily Ph.D. students, who are supported by research assistantships from federal funding,” said Amato. “If there is a significant decrease in federal research funding, the results could be catastrophic.”

Other schools are being more conservative with their approaches. Balazinska said that uncertainty related to research funding has made the University of Washington’s computer science department more conservative with admissions. Her department has a waiting list this year for the doctoral program, but the department cannot currently be certain of its ability to support them financially.

“There is no question that this situation is bad for everyone, and we hate having to restrict our admissions when we have so many qualified candidates eager to come to UW and work with our faculty,” said Balazinska.

Loss of federal funding poses significant risk

The impact of changes in federal agency funding, especially for the National Science Foundation, is a top concern of universities.

“A number of program officers for our funded grants were technically probationary employees and were terminated,” says Balazinska. “Some of our faculty received new funding and others have served on review panels very recently.”

The Georgia Tech College of Computing completed $41 million in research expenditures last fiscal year and is on track to exceed that this year. However, Conte said his organization has significant exposure with the funding changes. Some projects with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have already been canceled.

“If all the bad things that have been announced are implemented, we will be exposed by as much of a quarter of our funding,” said Conte. “We want to keep our research alive as a top priority. Our top priority again is our people. It is our students; it is our faculty. It’s also our greatest resource.”

Strategically reducing dependencies on federal funding

Georgia Tech’s College of Computing has launched a task force for strategic direction in new ways to fund research and computing. While the university also created a tactical task force to help faculty members deal with the immediate impact of the funding changes, Conte’s committee is creating a strategic plan for finding alternate funding sources.

“I really believe that computer science as a whole has to step back and look strategically at how we are funding ourselves,” said Conte. “We shouldn’t be so subject to political whims. We need to think outside the box right now and come up with different strategies for funding, not only currently vulnerable research, but also, I think, enabling more faculty freedom in research moving forward.”

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has been reviewing its current degree programs for changes that can decrease reliance on federal research funding and increase resilience across campus. Amato said her department currently offers 16 of its undergraduate degrees as blended computer science degrees with other colleges, such as a Computer Science + Linguistics degree. It also recently added six new blended data science undergraduate degrees, such as Finance + Data Science, and is looking at ways to use this model for new master’s degree programs. The university is also looking at increasing its number of master’s degree programs, since many students are interested in graduate studies during economic downturns.

Corporate funding is another top source of alternate funding that universities are considering. Conte said that instead of the traditional annual research funding for one faculty member, Georgia Tech is increasing its block grant program with industry. The university also is looking into Industry-University Cooperative Research Centers, a program in which companies pay a membership fee in exchange for reduced overhead and shared IP rights. Independent applied research groups, such as the Georgia Tech Research Institute, is another option to keep the lights on research-wise and broaden the umbrella from applied to more fundamental research.

“In reality, the phenomenal tech industry and computer and computing culture in the U.S. has been a result of federal investment. And to pull that and assume that it’ll continue is naïve,” said Conte. “The tech industry is going to have to step up now. They have been enjoying the benefits of federal funding over the decades, everything from the Internet to all the incredible advances that keep microprocessors on the cutting edge and keep the innovation and microprocessors centered in the United States.”

Lasting future impact if cuts become reality

While uncertainty clouds most computer science programs right now, many higher-education leaders are worried about a lasting future impact—not just for their universities, but for society as a whole. Balazinska said academic research is essential for driving an innovative economy and for producing a skilled workforce in critical fields. Additionally, she explained that fundamental discoveries can drive not only new businesses, but entirely new industries.

“If universities end up suffering significant cuts, the nation’s fundamental research will deteriorate, and other countries will take over leadership in technology,” Balazinska said. “I think there is little doubt that computing innovation has been essential to this country’s accomplishments, competitiveness, and national security.”

Jennifer Goforth Gregory is a Raleigh, NC-based technology journalist who has covered B2B tech for over 20 years. In her spare time, she rescues homeless dachshunds.