LSU President William F. Tate IV wrote in an email to university faculty and staff Friday detailing numerous changes the school will be instituting to counteract uncertainty about the future of federal education funding.

LSU will be freezing almost all hiring across the university effective immediately. The university will also be reviewing administrative processes to see where it can eliminate redundant positions and centralize key roles, as well as implement AI to relieve administrators’ burdens.

The school also said it will be withholding 2% of all department’s budgets starting in 2026 in an attempt to prepare departments to “withstand potential funding reductions.” 

Part of that 2% can be earned back if departments hit certain annual goals, while most of it will go into a strategic university fund for “small- and large-dollar awards to support academic and research initiatives from across the campus.”

“These strategic actions will help our university navigate financial challenges while advancing academic distinction, research innovation, and student success,” Tate wrote in the email. “By acting decisively today, we build a stronger, more resilient institution for the future.”

The email said the changes will help the university achieve its goals of becoming a top-50 research university and gain accreditation from the Association of American Universities.

Under President Donald Trump, the U.S. government has announced plans to begin the closure of the Department of Education. It has also downsized funding from the National Institutes of Health, which LSU relies on for research – Tate said the university had been given $192 million in NIH funding in a February op-ed.