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Survey results align with nationwide cuts to academic programs due to low enrollment
Universities have “too many academic programs,” according to the top money crunchers.
“Some 70 percent of all [chief business officers] agree their institution has too many academic programs given current enrollment,” a recent survey found. This is “up 59 percent from last year.”
The study contained responses from 213 universities, including 99 public colleges, 113 private colleges, and one for-profit institution, for a response rate of 9 percent. Concerns included “rising personnel costs” and “deferred maintenance.
The Inside Higher Ed “Survey of College and University Chief Business Officers” also found about half of the financial officials worry about “enrollment declines” and “structural cost imbalances.”
An economist and dean of the University of Wyoming’s college of business said he was not surprised by the statistic.
“The statistic doesn’t surprise me, but the increase from 59 percent to 70 percent in a single year is striking,” Beaulier told The College Fix via email. “It suggests higher education’s financial challenges are increasingly being understood as structural rather than cyclical.”
“You can’t simply wait for the next good enrollment year or another infusion of public funding if you have an academic portfolio built for more students than you actually serve,” the professor said.
He said budgeting needs to be “more strategic” and universities “need to know what it actually costs to deliver their programs.”
Officials also must grasp “where students are enrolling, which programs are growing or declining, and where there are opportunities to consolidate or redesign offerings. It doesn’t mean every program has to make money.”
He said “abundant financing” has allowed “prices to become disconnected from value.”
The American Association of University Professors declined to comment on how it would tackle low-enrollment programs.
The chief financial officer for Morehouse School of Medicine said “cash is king,” during an August webinar hosted by Inside Higher Ed to discuss the survey results. The College Fix attended the webinar.
“Right now there’s not a lot of certainty, it’s going to require work,” Gerald Hector said.
“The best budget models and institutions that are agile, nimble, and flexible are the ones who will thrive with a high diverse revenue stream,” Hector also said.
Cuts are common across the country
At many universities, officials are making cuts to remove minors, majors, graduate degrees, and certificates that are not hitting enrollment targets.
Public universities in Indiana announced plans to cut 68 degrees with zero enrollment and merge or suspend 300 others, The Fix reported in 2025.
The following year, the number rose to 600 cuts or mergers.
St. Cloud State University announced plans in 2024 to cut around 30 percent of its degrees, The Fix previously reported.
In some cases, faculty have said that cuts to programs may be justified.
Economist Richard Vedder said Ohio University, where he teaches, was justified in cutting out duplicative economics degrees.
His colleague, historian John O’Keefe, offered cautious optimism last year about plans to merge “smaller majors/programs.” He leads the campus American Association of University Professors chapter.
