The layoffs weren’t cheap either because the school had to give away a ton of severance pay.

This is a school on the brink.

The Chicago Tribune reports.

Chicago State University layoffs come at a cost

Facing an unprecedented budget crisis, Chicago State University has laid off nearly 400 employees since the beginning of the year — an astounding 40 percent of staff at a school that serves mostly minority and low-income students from the city.

The mass layoffs, unusual in higher education, came with a cost: $2.2 million, the bulk of it in severance pay mandated by a long-standing school policy that requires up to a year’s notice of being terminated or a payout for the time. It’s a policy common at Illinois public universities but generous compared with what is provided by most schools in other states.

Chicago State spent nearly $1.6 million on severance for about 50 administrators who were provided lump-sum payments in June equal to the salaries they would have received if they had not been terminated. The university spent another $650,000 to pay out unused vacation time for about 130 administrators and civil service employees. It was a significant sum considering the university had only $7.3 million in cash at the end of April, according to records obtained by the Tribune.

The university, however, provided no severance to the 10 faculty members laid off last month, saying a provision in the faculty contract that would have required a year’s notice did not apply because the school has declared financial exigency.