Federal Budget Cuts Threaten Research Opportunities for Walls Interns

The GW Geography Team, including Lucy Crino (‘26), meet for lunch at Meta headquarters

On Feb. 10, George Washington University (GW) President Ellen Granberg warned in a letter to the university community that proposed cuts to federal research funding by the Trump administration were “of most serious concern.” The effects of the cuts Granberg highlighted extend beyond GW—and could limit opportunities for Walls students.

For years, Walls’ internship program—where juniors and seniors take on unpaid positions to gain real-world experience—has been a hallmark of its curriculum. Students often intern in research labs at neighboring GW to fulfill their internship requirements. As GW labs face unprecedented uncertainty, those opportunities are no longer assured. Walls’ internship coordinator, Noretia Hardge, did not respond to request for comment on the matter. 

Lucy Crino (‘26) has spent the past school year interning in GW’s geography department, partnering with a company called YouthMappers to provide geographical data to Meta, formerly Facebook. While YouthMappers provided a small grant for the work, Crino explained that the project “was funded by USAID (United States Agency for International Development).” Since January, massive cuts to USAID under the Trump administration have destabilized the kind of work Crino is doing. Crino’s work is unpaid, so she’s been largely unaffected by the cuts. Others working on the same project, however, haven’t been so fortunate.

Crino explained that as a result of the budget cut, GW geography leadership has “debated back and forth between cutting a ton of students or just limiting everyone to five hours a week.” The compromise of limiting her colleagues to working five hours a week was unsatisfying to Crino, who said that “it's not fair to people who are trying to learn GIS (Geographic Information System) systems to not be able to have that opportunity to work that as much.”

Crino, who was offered a paid position after completing the Walls-sponsored portion of her internship, now faces an unclear future. Depending on how the lab chooses to handle budget cuts (i.e., hour limits or cutting positions), the position she was offered may no longer exist come the end of the school year. 

Abigail Dowd (‘26), completed a summer internship with a GW cancer biology lab. Although Dowd was able to complete her internship experience prior to the beginning of the new administration, she is still worried as she watches GW labs falter. 

Dowd said, “I am pretty concerned about the long-term effect on research, especially for something as important and publicized as cancer because, if the grant cuts are extensive enough, I think that the impact on research could last a lot longer than the four years that Trump will be president.” Dowd added, as someone interested in pursuing a career in scientific research, she’s worried that these research losses may impact her job prospects down the line. 

Ethan Crawford (‘26), who interns in a GW Global Health lab, is also bracing for an uncertain future. Though Crawford’s lab in particular is expected to retain most of its funding he said that “spending has gotten tighter. Some labs are going to have a smaller staff.” Although Crawford feels secure in his position, he’s worried for future interns, explaining: “Researchers won’t have as much time to help train new interns or give the guidance needed…I’m more concerned for those who are currently trying to get an internship at GWU. I think that students and the administration will really have to change as the situation changes.” 

And, the situation is certainly changing rapidly. The Trump administration escalated its attack on the research apparatus in a proposed budget released on May 2. According to Reuters, the proposed budget would face the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with an $18 billion cut and nearly halve the CDC budget. Both organizations are key funders of research on the university level.

As the Trump administration’s budget and education policies shift hour by hour, one thing remains certain for research-driven Walls students: their future is not.