A big increase in the tax on university endowments adds to financial uncertainty for the wealthiest colleges in the U.S., leading several already to lay off staff or implement hiring freezes.

Spending more endowment money on taxes also could lead colleges to reduce financial aid, cutting off access to elite institutions for lower-income students, colleges and industry experts warned.

President Donald Trump signed the tax increase, part of his signature spending bill , into law last month.

The new tax rates take effect in 2026, but colleges such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford already cite the tax as one of many reasons for making cuts across their universities. Each will be on the hook to pay hundreds of millions more in taxes, while also navigating the Trump administration's other thr

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