Largest Catholic University in US Faces $56 Million Budget Gap. DePaul University is facing financial pressure after the pandemic intensified declining enrollment and widened the Chicago private school’s budget gap. To narrow the growing gap between revenue and expenses the largest Catholic university in the US is starting to cut its budget. It is offering a voluntary separation program to about 15% of the school’s 1,400 full-time staff and administration, according to an April 4 notice by DePaul University President Robert Manuel, faculty are ineligible. School officials project a shortfall of $56 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1, barring cost-cutting measures.
