A working group of experts assembled in early 2026 to author a practical guide for universities in the United States.
The paper analyzes the rising global competition facing US research universities in recent decades and the degree to which universities have increased internal resources directed to research. These trends provide background context for the Trump Administration’s 2025 reductions in Federal research funding for individual universities and the sector at large. Actual and potential government budget cuts have shifted a slowly unsustainable path into an urgent fiscal crisis at many institutions.
The paper recommends four ways in which US research universities need to immediately respond to this crisis even as they prepare to make longer term strategic choices. The descriptions of the four preparatory actions are followed by five actions to cope with reduced Federal research funding, all of which will require exceptional intentionality from most university leadership and boards. The paper closes with supporting policy and practice changes needed to enable adaptive strategic action.