Members of the New School for Social Research (NSSR) Economics department disagree with The New School’s reasoning for the university’s budget deficit. 

These findings were released in a series of documents shared in an Instagram post last semester by the New School Part-Time Faculty Union and other sources. The documents, which cited IRS 990 forms and other financial data from The New School, include analyses of administrative compensation growth and the financial impact of the PhD admissions pause. 

The documents state that the deficit, which was last estimated by administrators to be $48 million, is due to years of financial mismanagement, not faculty salaries and PhD programs, which have been targeted in the university’s ongoing restructuring process.

One document claims that if spending on administrative costs, professional services, and facilities had grown at the same rate as revenue, 2024’s budget deficit of $30.2 million would have instead been a $7 million surplus.

Sanjay Reddy, an economics professor at NSSR and former member of the High-level Team of Advisers to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, who contributed to some of the analyses, explained the goal of the documents.

“The overall point of our analysis is to question the narrative that the leadership, self declared leadership, of The New School is presenting,” Reddy said. He also said the intention is to question administrators’ claims that the current financial crisis “is the product of overspending on faculty and instructional programs.”

Salary growth compared to revenue

According to the documents, revenue growth from 2014 to 2024 was 2.9% annually. In that same period, full-time and part-time faculty salaries grew by 2.9% and 2.2%, respectively. 

“Faculty compensation is growing sustainably and is not causing financial deterioration,” the documents said.

In the same 10-year period, administrative salaries grew at 4.8% annually, reaching a total of $80.7 million in 2024. The document states this figure “should be $13.5M lower if it had grown at the same rate as revenues.”

A separate analysis document from the post shows significant pay increases for top administrators between 2022-23. The 12 officers, directors, trustees, and key employees analyzed saw an average increase of 13.3%, with total compensation rising from $4.8 million to $5.3 million.

The largest growth in salary was Helen Wussow, a former dean who now teaches courses at Parsons School of Design. Wussow’s salary increased by 46.6% from $159,161 to $233,389 between 2022-23.

One of the administrators whose salary growth was analyzed was Richard Kessler, the recently appointed Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs, and previous Executive Dean of the College of Performing Arts and Dean of Mannes. From 2013 to 2023, Kessler’s salary increased by 4.56%, which is higher than the university’s revenue growth rate of 2.9% from 2014 to 2024.

The document notes that Kessler had the same administrative role in both 2013 and 2023.

PhD program analysis

Two documents analyze the financial implications of the university’s pause in PhD admissions for the 2026-27 academic year.

One document argues the pause will cost more than it saves because “the majority of master’s students come to study at the NSSR specifically as an investment that positions themselves for PhD admission here.” The analysis suggests that master’s students’ tuition revenue would exceed expected savings from the PhD pause.

“For all of these reasons and more, a complete pause in PhD admissions is likely to be financially counterproductive, with net losses in year one,” a memo said.

Another document on PhD revenue emphasizes that PhD programs generate substantial revenue through teaching fellows’ instructional labor. There were roughly 30 PhD Teaching Fellows generating between $1.4 million and $2 million annually in revenue before cuts.

Reddy explained the fundamental problem with viewing PhD programs only as cost centers, as the document alleges the New School is doing.

“You might decide to axe a particular college or division or program or activity because you think of it just as a source of cost and not a source of revenues,” Reddy said. “But if you’ve not understood the ways in which that particular college, department, center, activity contributes to revenues, through one or another chain of causation you overlook, you’re going to shoot yourself in the foot.”

Spending growth

One of the documents alleges that spending on professional services — external professionals like consultants or lawyers — grew by 11.2% annually, reaching $34 million in 2024. The document said this “should be $15M lower if it had grown at the same rate as revenues.”

Facilities and real estate spending grew by 3.8% annually to $109.3 million in 2024, which the document said “should be $9.6M lower if it had grown at the same rate as revenues.”

Employee benefits spending grew by 3.2% annually to $72.6 million in 2024, which the document attributes mostly “to administrative salary growth under any plausible attribution formula.”

The document on excess spending concludes, “If spend on administrative salaries, professional services, and facilities had grown at the same rate as revenue, there would be a $7M surplus instead of a $30M deficit.”

Administrative response

Reddy stated that to his knowledge, the university administration has not provided a formal response to the specific findings in these documents.

When reached for a comment by the New School Free Press, Merrie Snead, associate director of university communications, provided a link to a Nov. 17, 2025 community message from University President Joel Towers.

“For too long, our PhD programs have operated under financial strain that has limited our ability to fully support our students,” Towers said in the statement. “During this pause, we will work to transform the financing model of doctoral education, increase PhD student stipends, expand research and professional development opportunities, and provide more robust pedagogical training and support for teaching and learning.”