EDITORS' CORNER
OPINION: Faculty union opposes cuts, but there are now 10,000 fewer students than a decade ago
Amidst declining enrollment, Portland State University is joining other colleges across the country in cutting millions of dollars of spending and some degree programs.
But the faculty union at the public university objects to the proposed cuts which could include firing 52 professors and staffers.
Enrollment has “shrunk by a third” in the past 14 years, according to President Ann Cudd. This has contributed to a projected $35 million deficit over the next two years.
“We are maintaining an infrastructure built for 30,000 students while currently serving 20,000,” the deficit reduction plan stated, according to Inside Higher Ed.
To solve this gap, Cudd proposes cutting the “conflict resolution and university studies” departments and reducing spending at seven other departments, Inside Higher Ed reported.
Still, she faces pushback.
“At what point can we stop cutting,” union President Bill Knight said.
Inside Higher Ed reported further:
Of the two-thirds of the PSU-[American Association of University Professors] bargaining unit who participated in a recent no-confidence vote in Cudd over the proposed cuts, 85 percent voted no confidence, Knight said. Nearly 90 percent of those who took part in the adjunct faculty union’s vote also voted no confidence.
The cuts mirror decisions elsewhere to lay off workers and end or merge programs, either due to state law or spending constraints.
In 2024, Drexel University announced it would fire 60 workers due to an enrollment drop which the school partially blamed on problems with the student loan application form.
Meanwhile public universities in Indiana are looking to cut or merge 600 degrees to comply with a state law that requires a regular review of programming to ensure an efficient allocation of resources.
On the other hand, numerous opportunities still exist in higher education. Last year, higher education institutions laid off 9,000 workers, but that was out of a total of 4 million, as The College Fix reported.
Higher education is not immune to political changes, and in fact, is largely dependent on sympathetic lawmakers.
Over the years, many universities got hooked on high enrollment, fueled by easy access to student loans, along with generous federal government grants.
Now that Trump is resetting the agenda, and fewer people are enrolling in colleges, institutions are going to start having to make tough choices.
The good news is that many colleges that focus on high-quality education while keeping tuition affordable can benefit from this change in circumstances.
