Inside Stockton’s $20 Million Budget Gap: 21 Jobs to Go as University Confronts Enrollment, Funding Pressures

GALLOWAY — Stockton University’s decision to eliminate 21 faculty and professional staff positions didn’t emerge from a sudden financial crisis. University records show the warning signs have been building for years, as declining enrollment, rising expenses and changes in state support have created a persistent gap between what Stockton brings in and what it spends.

Now, that financial imbalance is translating into jobs.

Stockton President Joe Bertolino informed the university community Tuesday that the school intends to eliminate 14 faculty positions and seven professional staff positions at the end of the academic year as the university works to address a structural deficit of roughly $20 million.

The announcement represents one of the most visible consequences yet of financial challenges Stockton officials have publicly discussed since at least 2023.

And the university's own records show this isn't the first year Stockton has faced a multimillion-dollar shortfall.

Deficits have been building for years

In his 2023 State of the University address, Bertolino disclosed that Stockton had ended fiscal 2023 with a $10 million deficit, covered with available cash and short-term investments.

At the time, another $12 million deficit was projected for fiscal 2024 without changes in spending.

Bertolino identified a central problem then: revenue wasn't keeping pace with increasing costs, driven in significant part by declining enrollment.

By early 2024, university trustees were reviewing a projected operating and capital deficit of approximately $11.6 million.

The problem persisted.

For fiscal 2026, Stockton's Board of Trustees adopted a budget projecting approximately $292.6 million in revenue against $311.9 million in expenses — a gap of roughly $19.3 million.

University officials expected cost-saving measures to reduce that deficit, with remaining shortfalls covered through available cash and investments.

Using reserves can address a deficit temporarily. It doesn't, however, eliminate an ongoing imbalance if recurring expenses continue exceeding recurring revenue.

That's the structural problem Stockton is now trying to address.

Enrollment is a major part of the equation

Stockton's enrollment has declined substantially from its recent peak.

The university had 9,993 students in fall 2020, according to Stockton's institutional data.

NJ 101.5 reports enrollment has fallen approximately 12% since 2020, with the university lowering its enrollment target from roughly 10,000 students to fewer than 9,000.

That's particularly significant for a university heavily dependent upon tuition and student-generated revenue.

The picture isn't entirely negative. Stockton has reported improvement in some areas of recruitment, including freshman enrollment.

But declines among transfer and graduate students have complicated those gains, while the university itself has repeatedly identified the approaching demographic “enrollment cliff” as a long-term financial challenge.

Stockton's location adds another dimension to the problem. The overwhelming majority of its students come from New Jersey, particularly South Jersey, making the university especially sensitive to demographic changes in the region.

State funding also declined

Stockton isn't attributing its financial problems exclusively to enrollment.

State funding is another piece.

NJ 101.5 reports Stockton is receiving $41.8 million in state aid in the fiscal 2027 budget, down from $44.4 million the previous year. Funding associated with Stockton's Atlantic City campus was also reduced from $4.6 million to $2.6 million.

That comes as personnel and other operating costs have continued to rise.

The contrast with only a few years ago is striking.

Stockton celebrated a record $42.18 million state appropriation for fiscal 2024, a 17.7% increase over the previous year and more than double what the university received five years earlier.

But increased state support did not eliminate Stockton's underlying structural deficit.

Stockton had already started cutting costs

Tuesday's layoff announcement also wasn't Stockton's first attempt to reduce personnel expenses.

Earlier this year, the university offered some faculty members voluntary separation agreements as part of its cost-cutting effort.

Now Stockton is moving toward involuntary reductions.

Bertolino said the university must follow its collective bargaining agreements as it works through the process and acknowledged the effect the decision will have on employees and their families.

“Our colleagues have contributed greatly to Stockton and the students we serve, and we recognize the very real impact this decision will have on them and their families,” Bertolino said in his message to the university community.

He also said Stockton will consider the potential effects on students and academic programs before determining exactly where the reductions will occur.

Which jobs will disappear?

That's one of the largest unanswered questions.

Stockton has not publicly identified the departments or programs in which the 14 faculty and seven professional staff positions will be eliminated.

It also remains unclear how much money the 21 reductions are expected to save annually — an important question considering the university is confronting a structural deficit approaching $20 million.

Bertolino said it would be premature to speculate about individual positions or whether additional layoffs ultimately could be necessary.

That means Tuesday's announcement may explain only part of Stockton's strategy for balancing its finances.

The university will likely need some combination of additional expense reductions, enrollment growth, new revenue or increased outside support to eliminate a recurring deficit of that size.

Bertolino warned Stockton couldn’t simply cut its way out

Perhaps the most revealing comments came three years before the layoffs were announced.

In 2023, after disclosing Stockton's then-$10 million deficit, Bertolino said the university needed to reduce expenses — but also cautioned against relying entirely on cuts.

“We cannot cut our way out of this deficit,” he said.

Instead, Bertolino said Stockton needed to develop new revenue streams, including conferences, events and continuing-education programs, while developing a strategic business plan for its role as an anchor institution in Atlantic City.

That challenge remains.

Stockton's current strategic plan continues to emphasize strengthening programs where there is student demand, developing partnerships throughout South Jersey and investing in programs considered essential to the university's future.

But accomplishing those goals while simultaneously shrinking a structural deficit could require difficult decisions about where Stockton grows — and where it contracts.

Faculty preparing to push back

Those decisions are already drawing resistance from Stockton's faculty union.

The Stockton Federation of Teachers is planning a rally Thursday at Independence Plaza on the Galloway campus as Bertolino prepares to deliver his annual State of the University address.

The union is expected to press the administration for greater transparency and consultation over the reductions and argue that eliminating faculty and professional staff could affect education and student services.

That sets up Thursday as an important next chapter in the story.

Bertolino will have an opportunity to explain not merely why Stockton is eliminating 21 positions, but how the university intends to close the rest of its structural deficit and put its finances on sustainable footing.

The numbers suggest that question extends well beyond 21 jobs.

Stockton has been wrestling with recurring multimillion-dollar deficits for several years, and university officials have repeatedly identified enrollment and financial sustainability as major institutional challenges.

The layoffs make those problems much more tangible.

For the faculty and staff whose positions ultimately disappear, they will also make them personal.