How aid cuts are shaking up development academia

The entire development industry was shaken last year by the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, alongside a drop in official development assistance from other big donors. Thousands of USAID staff were laid off, and an estimated 2,500 jobs were cut across Geneva-based organizations, with further layoffs expected this year, including at the International Committee of the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, which is set to reduce its workforce by 25%. The ripple effects of the aid cuts are being felt in development academia. While some professionals displaced by last year’s layoffs are turning to teaching roles, universities are facing budgetary pressures, and some are already seeing declining interest in traditional development courses as young professionals question their career prospects in the sector. “We’ve seen a lot of internships and job opportunities dry up for our graduates. I know a bunch of researchers, both in public policy and in political science and economics, and that’s dried up as well,” said Corinne Krupp, director of graduate studies of the Master of International Development Policy at Duke University. “It’s been devastating, and it’s hard to know how to pivot.” In the United States, “the ICE roundups and the immigration crackdowns, and the visuals of seeing people bundled into vans and being taken off the street” are also causing international students to reconsider pursuing development programs in the country, said Krupp, adding that her team has received many questions from prospective students worried this could happen to them. More interest in economics courses Enrollment trends have been mixed, with some programs seeing fewer applications for traditional development courses, while others report increased demand as students look to ramp up their skills as they wait out the current job market — but most institutions won’t know the full picture until enrollment for the next academic year is finalized. In the United Kingdom, the London School of Economics and Political Science has seen an uptick in applications for its international development master’s degree program for this upcoming academic year, but less interest in its degrees focused on the humanitarian sector, said Tim Forsyth, professor and head of the international development department. Despite the shaky job market, his department has ended up overrecruiting for their master’s in development studies by 15%, with a notable increase in the number of U.S. applicants. A survey of the 407 enrolled students showed that 16% of them were pursuing the degree precisely because they were worried about the employment landscape, explained Forsyth. “The evidence is that people are increasing their interest in education because of the job market.” However, demand for the school’s master’s in international development and humanitarian emergencies — which was the department’s most popular degree in 2024 — has seen enrollment drop 28% as prospective students seem apprehensive about job prospects in the aid sector, he explained. There’s a perception that courses on emergency response, migration, and other humanitarian issues translate into fewer job opportunities in today’s funding landscape. There is more interest in analytical-focused degrees such as development economics, according to Forsyth. “Students believe they will have better chances of landing a job if they get a good master’s from a recognized university that gives them analytical skills like quants and economics,” he said. Similarly, Duke University has noticed increasing demand for more practical and applied courses — students are looking for the practical tools needed to address increasingly complex policy situations, said Krupp. A shrinking sector While the schools Devex spoke to have not yet had to cut or combine programs, Krupp said action may be needed if enrollment continues to drop. There has been an uptick in applications for doctorates as people wait for things to settle, she said, although research grants have also been hit hard by funding cuts. Krupp worries that further reductions in student aid and development funding could shrink the U.S. academic sector. An adjunct professor from Georgetown University in Washington, who teaches various development-related courses but wished to remain anonymous, said one graduating student had a job offer fall through, and another lost their scholarship. “Students were openly wondering if grad programs in development were still worthwhile,” the professor wrote in an email to Devex. JoLynn Perez, a second-year student of the master’s in international development at the American University in Washington, D.C, hadn’t planned to apply for a job at USAID but is worried that a lot of organizations and programs she would have targeted after graduation were funded by the agency. “It’s just a little bit of anxiety, will there be a job in this sector? There’s so many qualified people … that have been laid off in this sector that are way more qualified than a recent graduate student,” said Perez, who feels disheartened after dedicating a lot of time and financial resources to studying development. Last year’s events have prompted professors to adapt the master’s curriculum to the post-USAID reality, she said, and this semester’s syllabus has been revised to replace topics on the now-defunct USAID and the U.S. State Department with coverage of the agency’s dismantling. Academia a ‘temporary home’ — but competition is increasing Some former USAID and State Department staff have been seeking out opportunities in academia to ride out the storm, including unpaid fellowships that can provide visibility and networking. Competition is increasing, however, for paid adjunct teaching positions — Krupp noted that Duke University has already reduced hiring in this area across the school in response to budget pressures. Last July, Tyler Thompson, along with 1,300 others, was laid off from the State Department, where he had helped cofound the Negotiations Support Unit focused on complex negotiations and peace processes. Thompson had always planned on being an adjunct professor alongside his job in government. “I just never made that jump, never bit the bullet … so one of the first things I did [after the layoffs] was to seek out those opportunities,” he said. This spring, he will teach a course at Georgetown on “Navigating Interagency Dynamics at the National Security Council.” He’s also joined the University of California, Berkeley’s Human Rights Center, where he’s producing research and policy briefs on conflict resolution. “It lends you that credibility, that you’re not just a former government official expert on a topic,” said Thompson. There is a lot more competition for these spots, and there’s decreasing funding for these types of programs, he added, but “it’s a great place if people can get it”. While convincing people to pursue careers in public policy is a hard sell right now, Duke University’s Krupp remains optimistic that students will continue to pursue the skills offered by policy schools and that these are applicable across a wide range of careers. “The money may have dried up temporarily, but the problems are still so much there. And we still need to train good people to go out and tackle them,” she said.