Dive Brief:
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro unveiled recommendations Tuesday to slash 19 bachelor’s degrees, graduate programs and other academic offerings in the wake of recent enrollment declines.
- More than 140 students are enrolled in the undergraduate majors slated for elimination, while around 70 students are enrolled in the affected graduate programs. Affected students in good standing will have the ability to complete their programs at UNCG.
- The university’s leadership plans to determine which programs to discontinue over the next two weeks and share the final results with the campus on Feb. 1. Any programs slated for discontinuation will no longer accept new students starting this fall, according to a university notice.
Dive Insight:
UNCG joins a growing list of public universities that have announced recent program cuts amid enrollment declines and other challenges. West Virginia University, for instance, recently cut 28 degree programs and around 140 faculty members to address a $45 million budget hole.
The potential cuts at UNCG were recommended by the university’s deans, according to the announcement. They include bachelor’s programs in anthropology, physics and religious studies, a doctorate in communication sciences and disorders, and a master’s in applied geography. UNCG also intends to cut minors in Chinese and Russian and discontinue Korean language courses, all of which have no enrolled students.
Enrollment at the university has steadily declined over the past few years, dropping from 20,196 students in fall 2019 to 17,978 in fall 2022 — a nearly 11% decline. That reduction has hurt the university’s finances.
In an interview with Higher Ed Dive last month, UNCG Chancellor Franklin Gilliam Jr. said the university’s combined revenue from tuition and state appropriations dropped from $115 million in fiscal 2020 to $92.3 million this fiscal year.
“The University has lost 2,500 students — an entire cohort — in recent years,” Kimberly Osborne, a university spokesperson, said via email Wednesday. “For every 1% drop in enrollment we have, that equates [to] $2 million.”
Osborne said that 25 faculty members and three staff members work in programs recommended for elimination.
“For those programs ultimately designated for discontinuation, the wind-down process will take years,” Gilliam said, adding that there will be no immediate staffing changes. Affected employees “will have significant time” to prepare for job changes, and UNCG may have other opportunities for them, he said.
UNCG leaders began a review of the university’s academic portfolio in late 2022, though faculty members have criticized this process and said they were opposed to unnecessarily eliminating programs.
In early December, the university’s American Association of University Professors chapter submitted a petition with more than 3,900 signatures that demanded the leadership end its review of degree programs. They argued that UNCG was financially stable and had more flexible reserves compared to similarly situated institutions.
Gilliam and Debbie Storrs, the university’s provost and executive vice chancellor, declined the petition’s demands in mid-December.
Employees, students and alumni will have the opportunity to share feedback on the potential program eliminations during Faculty Senate and open forums in the coming days.
“Change can be a challenge — and worry can be a natural reaction — but this is an invaluable chance to shape the future,” Gilliam said in a message Tuesday announcing the potential cuts. “Periodic portfolio reviews make sure we offer the right mix of degrees to meet the needs of our students and communities, to seize on emerging opportunities, and to keep the University competitive and fiscally responsible.”
