CORRECTION: The original version of this article stated in the deck that President Book stated the cause of the hiring pause was a 6% decrease in enrollment. Book stated that the hiring pause was due to not meeting  enrollment goal. Elon News Network regrets this error.

Elon University President Connie Book announced in an email sent to all university faculty and staff on July 8 that Elon University will be pausing the hiring of vacant faculty and staff positions. 

According to a statement to Elon News Network from Mike Haskins, Vice President of Communications and Marketing, hiring and budget managers will be evaluating open positions to determine if they need to be filled immediately or if the hiring process can be postponed. 

There are currently 28 open positions, according to Elon University’s Human Resources website, which include Assistant Director for the Center of Race Ethnicity and Diversity, Director of Jewish Life and shuttle bus operators.

According to the email, Book wrote that the decision was made after not meeting the university’s enrollment goal for the incoming class, despite having a high number of applicants. The decrease in enrollment results in a loss of expected tuition revenue for the university.

“Interest in Elon remains strong, as reflected by the number of applications for fall 2025, which were among the highest in our history,” Book stated. “Even with these strong application numbers, however, we did not meet our original enrollment target for the fall 2025 incoming class.” 

According to Haskins, new student enrollment currently stands at 1,517 students. This is a 6% decrease from the class of 2028’s enrollment. 

In addition to a potential pause on hiring, Book wrote that the university plans to tighten budgets and identify ways to reduce spending and maintain quality. 

Haskins wrote that the work to tighten budgets is currently underway with division and budget managers working to identify inefficiencies. 

Haskins also wrote that funding related to students such as financial aid, student employment and student activities will not be affected. 

Book also stated that the university plans to add new sources of income. This includes new graduate programs, stronger transfer student recruitment, improved retention, enhanced philanthropy and additional national campus programs according to Haskins.

If hiring and budget managers determine that an open position does not need to be filled immediately, the hiring process will be pushed to the 2026-27 fiscal year.