The Rider University Board of Trustees plans to cut 25% of its full-time faculty, reduce all employees’ base pay by 14% and eliminate several senior positions in its administrative structure as part of a “March to Sustainability Plan” to keep the 160-year-old New Jersey school viable.
“New and unforeseen developments in recent months have affected expenses and cash flow, resulting in a significant cash shortfall,” school President John R. Loyack said in a statement late Monday night. “With no liquidity and the recent loss of an open line of credit, the university’s only option to overcome cash deficits is to make urgent and severe choices.”
As many as 40 full-time faculty members are expected to lose their jobs by the end of the year. The school said it hopes to minimize the effect those cuts will have on the 4,000 students who attend its Lawrence Township campus.
The school will also eliminate health benefits for priority adjunct faculty on Jan. 1 and end faculty tuition remission — a benefit in which tuition is waived or reduced for employees, their spouses and dependents — beginning with the 2026-27 academic year, Loyack said.
Rider officials said the cost-cutting steps will allow the university to address the concerns of its accrediting body, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which placed the school on probation due to its economic woes. The private university remains accredited while on probation.
“All of us involved are aware that this moment brings pain, frustration, fear and uncertainty. We profoundly wish the financial situation were otherwise,” Loyack acknowledged in his statement to students and alumni.
He expressed hope that the sacrifices being made now will preserve the school’s existence for the sake of past, present and future members of its community.
Annual tuition at Rider reportedly costs $43,240, not including room and board, according to U.S. News & World Report. The outlet ranks Rider 16th in the country in its rundown of “Best Value Schools.”
Rider’s alumni include former University of Notre Dame basketball coach Richard “Digger” Phelps and “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” 2019 winner Monét X Change.
