Dive Brief:
- Alverno College’s governing board declared financial exigency and unveiled a plan to cut 14 undergraduate majors and two graduate programs from its academic portfolio, according to an announcement Friday.
- With the program cuts, the Milwaukee-based Catholic women’s college said it would eliminate 25 full-time faculty positions and 12 full-time staff positions. It also plans to combine and restructure departments to boost efficiency, as well as nix its track and field program.
- Officials at the college said the decisions followed a “thorough analysis” and described the restructuring effort as a “proactive measure to restore financial stability and secure Alverno College’s financial future.”
Dive Insight:
As with other colleges that have cut academic programs and employees in recent months, Alverno said it is refocusing around its core strengths and community needs.
The college pointed to what it called “reputational strengths and teaching excellence” in nursing, education, psychology and social work, business, communication, sciences and integrated studies.
On the chopping block are a wide range of undergraduate majors, including cosmetic science, English, environmental science, mathematics and computer science, media design, history and molecular biology. The reductions will leave Alverno with 29 majors.
Current undergraduates will be able to complete their degrees in eliminated majors and minors, the college said in a FAQ page. However, it will not be accepting new students into the discontinued programs.
Alverno also plans to cut master’s degrees in music and liturgy, as well as music therapy, while pausing other graduate programs. The college said it is working to arrange teach-out partnerships for students in affected graduate programs.
In explaining the restructuring, Alverno framed exigency in terms of broader higher ed woes, citing “demographic shifts, COVID-19, changes in college-going rates, increased competition, rising discount rates, and inflationary pressures.”
For the fiscal year ending June 2023, Alverno posted a $12.4 million operating deficit — which nearly tripled the prior year’s budget gap. Meanwhile, the institution’s revenue has been falling millions of dollars per year annually since fiscal 2021.
Those financial challenges follow enrollment declines at the college. Between 2017 and 2022, fall headcount dropped 17.8% to 1,596 students, according to federal data. Enrollment fell by 42.2% since 2010.
Despite program and employee cuts, Alverno President Christy Brown said in a statement that, moving forward, the college will “continue to invest in and support areas of growth that will be identified by our community of gifted faculty and staff.”
Alverno joins a growing number of colleges making academic cuts this year amid budget challenges. Northland College, also in Wisconsin, declared exigency and significantly pared down its academic offerings after a near-miss with closure this spring.
Likewise, St. Cloud State University in neighboring Minnesota recently finalized plans to eliminate a whopping 42 majors from its portfolio. Some 20 degrees are potentially headed for elimination at Mississippi’s Delta State University, as are 12 undergraduate programs at Virginia’s University of Lynchburg.
