15 laid off at Assumption
Assumption College laid off 15 staff members this week as the Worcester school tries to respond to growing cost pressures it says the entire higher education industry is facing.
The layoffs were spread throughout the staff of about 700 and included faculty, staff and administrative personnel.
In a statement provided to the Worcester Business Journal, the college said the layoffs are endemic of “many other institutions of higher learning and businesses,” and an attempt to “address current challenges facing the higher education community, specifically maintaining or reducing costs for students.”
Last week, Assumption announced a four-year freeze on tuition for current and incoming freshmen, a move that came in response to the cost pressures facing the parents of current and future college students. However, the statement said the layoffs were not related to the tuition freeze announcement. “Such a reduction in force would have occurred with or without” that action, according to the statement, from college spokesman Michael Guilfoyle.
The college estimates the freeze will save families $6,500 to $11,000 over the course of a student's career. Tuition for a full-time undergraduate student for the 2013-14 school year is $34,475, according to the school’s website.
President Francesco Cesareo announced this week’s layoffs yesterday with faculty and staff, according to Guilfoyle, who said no further reductions are planned.
Guilfoyle said the 15 laid-off employees were offered severance packages and transitional assistance.
“Academic programs will continue to grow at Assumption,” the statement read, citing new majors in criminology and education, growth in graduate enrollment and increased interest in the school’s campus in Rome.
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