BUZZ
Over reliance on foreign students also hurt the school
More than 70 programs will be cut at the University of North Texas, including minors such as “Mexican-American Studies” and “LGBTQ Studies.”
Other graduate degrees and certificates, along with undergraduate degrees and minors will also be cut. The university said these cuts are due to a projected $45 million deficit, partially caused by a drop on foreign student enrollment.
“After careful review and consultation with deans, we have made the difficult decision to begin the process of closing or consolidating certain academic programs,” President Harrison Keller and Provost Michael McPherson wrote in a message on March 19.
University officials said it is completely closing down its department of linguistics due to low enrollment.
They identified other areas to be cut, including “21 graduate and 21 undergraduate certificates that have average enrollments below two students per year.”
The university will phase out its graduate degrees in “Media Industry and Critical Studies,” “Women’s and Gender Studies,” and early childhood education, along with the linguistics program.
Other master’s degrees will be merged, such as two separate biology programs and two interdisciplinary studies programs.
A variety of minors will end, including “Peace Studies,” “Mexican Studies,” “LGBTQ Studies,” and “Africana Studies.”
Latin, Italian, and Arabic minors will also be cut.
Other minors, particularly in the studio art department, will be consolidated into a major.
Foreign student enrollment, as well as budget cuts, also played a role, according to the university.
“The budget shortfall is the result of enrollment decreases — especially among international graduate students — and decreases in state formula funding for instruction and operations,” the university stated.
The university enrolled about 2,000 fewer students this year than last. Approximately 44,000 students attend the main Dento campus, while another 3,500 attend the Dallas location, according to state data.
UNT is not the only school to make program cuts, either due to budgetary problems, state law, or a combination of reasons.
Indiana universities announced they would cut 68 degrees with zero enrollment, The College Fix reported last August.
“More than 300 other degrees will either be suspended or consolidated as part of a new requirement to weed out low-enrollment programs, according to the state’s education department,” The Fix reported.
Oklahoma higher ed officials also recently identified 16 programs that may be cut in the near future.
In total, the state regents said “41 programs [should] be deleted and 21 programs [should] be suspended” across all universities.
Other cuts are being considered at Ohio University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
