Alexander Cikanek is a fourth-year chemistry student at the University of Rochester. This past year, Cikanek applied to doctoral programs at several schools and was recently accepted to three.
But within weeks, he received notice that the offers were being deferred, or even rescinded.
In each case, the university cited uncertainties with federal funding.
The Trump administration has hit higher education with sweeping cuts, including most recently a proposed 37% cut to the National Institutes of Health, which funds research in universities across the country. President Donald Trump has also ordered a stop to funding to legacy research universities like Harvard, Columbia, Cornell, and Northwestern.
Even though these cuts are being challenged in court, many universities are preemptively cutting costs and, at least in some cases, reducing admission to their research programs.
Cikanek always planned on going into a graduate program.
“I can't imagine a different way I would want to spend my life than continuing to learn about the natural world and chemistry,” he said.
But it won't be in the doctoral program at Duke University, which rescinded his acceptance letter, explaining in an email that the decision was based on "circumstances in the funding landscape." The University of Delaware chose not to make an admissions decision, explaining it was taking on a smaller class for the same reason.
For Cikanek, the worst blow came from his top school choice, Northwestern University. His admission there was not rescinded, but deferred to Fall 2026. A notification from NU explained the decision because of "uncertainty in the federal funding environment.”
Cikenek pleaded with admissions but was told there was nothing they could do.
“This is the greatest thing that I ever earned for myself,” he said. “It just evaporated for no real reason.”
NU was recently hit with $750 million funding cut from the Trump administration. The university, along with Cornell, is under federal investigation for pro-Palestine protests on campus and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
The federal government has frozen over $1 billion to Cornell. A statement from Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff earlier this month confirmed the university has received stop work orders for more than 100 grants, including some in medical research.
Doctoral programs in the United States are usually fully funded, as degree completion requires typically four or five years of full-time work. Guaranteed funding is essential for living expenses, and in the case of international students, is required for student visa approval.
While universities are handling the language of deferment differently, the bottom line for students is clear: many prospective doctoral students won’t begin their studies this fall.
The threat of research cuts hits close to home in Rochester — where Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Rochester rely on federal funds to pioneer research in lasers, vaccines, sustainable energy, and cybersecurity.
In email messages to staff and students, UR President Sarah Mangelsdorf has directed staff to reassess all capital projects and to determine which can be deferred. There are similar efforts at the University of Rochester Medical Center where officials are looking to find savings in shared programs or positions, limited discretionary spending and pausing capital investments where possible. Those emails did not specifically mention graduate admissions.
At the Rochester Institute of Technology, Dean of Admissions Diane Slusarski said they are not currently rescinding any offers.
“There will continue to be the need for these highly skilled, technically sophisticated workers,” Slusarki said, but without students to fill those positions, growth could stagnate.
It's also impossible to know what scientific advancement this could be stalling, Slusarki said.
“Science is the study of: How do things work? Why? What’s happening?” she said.
“It starts with research at the universities, because they have those open questions.”
So far, RIT and UR have not been directly targeted by Trump. The University of Rochester is one of several universities suing the administration over cuts to funding through the National Institutes of Health.