Penn State’s head of research outlined what he called worst-case and best-case scenarios during a town hall Monday, as the university prepares for the possibility of large-scale cuts in federal research funding and changes to visa regulations for international students and employees proposed by the Trump administration.
The Trump Administration has proposed cutting next year’s funding to the National Institutes of Health by $18 billion or about 40% and cutting funding to the National Science Foundation by $5 billion, which is more than half.
Andrew Read, Penn State’s senior vice president for research, said the changes threaten scholarships, fellowships and the STEM workforce pipeline.
“All of us, I think, know that this could undermine U.S. scientific global leadership," Read said.
The Trump Administration has also proposed limiting international students to four years in the United States and instituting a $100,000 fee on skilled foreign workers with H1-B visas.
“Maybe I’m naïve, but I do believe that folks will see that the proposed visa changes are going to cause very significant collateral damage for American science and technology for no gain," Read said.
The Trump administration is also looking at slashing the amount universities get for overhead costs as part of their research grants.
Read said those worst-case scenarios might not happen, and he thinks things may land in the middle.
“The question is whether we’re going to land really close to the worst case scenario or really close to where we’re at right now," he said.
Penn State had record-breaking research expenditures of $1.44 billion dollars in 2024-25. Most of that comes from federal funding.
Read said that if American investment in university research and development shrinks dramatically, then large public universities without big endowments will also shrink.
“And that shrinkage would necessarily involve workforce and shuttering research programs," he said.
