Northwestern University's Pritzker School of Law, one of the United States' top-tier law schools, recently announced a wave of faculty cuts in light of a budget shortfall.

Rachel Bertsche, director of strategic communications for the law school, declined to say exactly how many faculty will be cut or how much the shortfall is, but she noted that “employees impacted have been informed their contracts will end at the end of the academic year.” Tenured faculty positions will not be affected.

Law schools across the country have faced enrollment declines and budget constraints since the 2008 recession, and the upcoming cuts at Pritzker indicate that the elite law schools are not immune to such issues.

“As stated in the July 19 letter from Northwestern University senior leadership, the university is seeking efficiencies to address a budgetary shortfall and has called on academic and administrative units to help. Each unit at the university will be approaching the process differently, tailoring approaches to their local realities while trying to be flexible and dynamic in how they respond," Bertsche wrote in an email. "The university is seeking to minimize the impact on essential services and core academic and research activities."