UMass chancellors warn of shrinking PhD pipeline in computer science amid funding uncertainty

University leaders told the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies on Sept. 11 that funding instability has forced sharp reductions in graduate admissions at UMass, particularly in computer science and other STEM fields, and warned that gaps in the graduate pipeline could take years to repair.

Javier Reyes, chancellor of UMass Amherst, said the flagship campus planned a graduate class of “between 80 and 100 students” but withdrew offers because it could not ensure sufficient grant funding to place those students in labs. “We ended up admitting a class of 13 graduate students who will get PhDs,” Reyes said. He explained that doctoral students typically spend their first 15 months in coursework and rotations and need placement in labs once they pass qualifying exams.

Michael Collins, chancellor of UMass Chan Medical School, emphasized the multiplier effect of principal investigators: “A principal investigator … on average, hires 7 to 10 people in the lab. So if we have 300 people in our research enterprise who essentially do that, it's 2,100 to 3,000 jobs.”

Committee members asked for data to track where students who decline UMass offers go; Reyes said some are going to universities in Europe, China and India and that UMass is working with organizations that track international student movements.

Reyes and Collins characterized the admissions reductions as largely financial decisions tied to uncertainty in federal award disbursements and to the slowdown in new grant awards. Reyes gave a specific figure for the drop in PhD computer science admissions: “our computer science PhD … dropped by 64.4% this year.”

Witnesses urged rapid state consideration of bridge funding so admitted students and research groups are not left without lab placements; they said a delay of months — described by one witness as “six months” — could materially affect whether faculty retain labs and whether students can be trained to completion.

The committee did not vote on any action during the hearing; staff requested additional, institution‑level data on graduate admissions, placements and pending award disbursements.