Dive Brief:

• Facing a $25-million budget shortfall and declining student enrollment, the University of Maryland University College is laying off 70 employees.
• The layoffs, which began last week, come after state auditors revealed last year that the college may have overpaid $3.3 million to a marketing contractor and that it made $415,000 in questionable payments to employees.
• University president Javier Miyares blamed the layoffs on online adult education, competition, military downsizing, and the federal budget sequester. The school caters to members of the military and the federal government, as well as other working adults, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Dive Insight:

One of the unanswered questions here is what, if any, connection there is between the layoffs and the financial shenanigans. The University System of Maryland is not planning any other significant layoffs, according to the system’s chancellor, William Kirwan. The college has about 2,000 employees in the U.S., and the layoffs will not include faculty members. But the number of adjunct professors transitioning into full-time professors has been cut, to 20 from 92. The college’s enrollment peaked at 43,000 in 2011; this fall, expected enrollment will be less than 37,000. The layoffs will save about $8.3 million, with the rest of the budget shortfall to be made up with operational cuts and the elimination of vacant positions.