St. Cloud State University finalizes plan to cut back on degrees, minors amidst budget problems
Nearly one in three degree programs at St. Cloud State University will get the ax, due to budgetary problems.
Roughly 60 percent of minors are also getting the boot at the public university, according to a recent announcement.
“In a presentation to the campus community on Tuesday, SCSU Acting President Larry Lee confirmed the university will suspend 42 degree programs and 50 minor programs,” KARE 11 reported yesterday.
The news outlet reported that other cuts were made last year as well.
“The reductions will leave SCSU with a total academic portfolio of 94 degree programs (62 bachelor’s degrees, 29 master’s degrees, and three doctoral degrees) and 35 minor programs,” the news outlet reported. “According to the university, 92% of current students are enrolled in one of the 94 remaining academic programs.”
The school is also cutting faculty, staff, and administrative programs.
The cuts include ending minors in “Ethnic Studies,” “Chicano Studies,” and “Asian-Pacific American Studies.”
Music, hospitality, Spanish, and sociology undergraduate degrees will also be eliminated, according to KARE 11.
St. Cloud State “experienced an $18 million net operating loss in fiscal year 2023, and is expected to lose $15 million in 2024,” KARE 11 previously reported in May.
“The higher education landscape is facing unprecedented struggles – student enrollment declines, affordability concerns, a proliferation of higher education alternatives, public perception of college degrees, and financial strains…among others,” Lee told the university community in May. “These circumstances negatively impact higher education, generally, and St. Cloud State University, specifically.”
Enrollment at the university actually increased this year. However, the university enrolled 8,000 fewer students than it did in 2010. Its enrollment has generally decreased each year, the Star Tribune reported in October 2023.
Other universities have cut or are considering ending various degree programs due to enrollment and budget issues in the past several years.
UNC Greensboro announced plans in early 2024 to end twenty academic programs, The College Fix previously reported.
Henderson State University in Arkansas announced plans in 2022 to end 25 degree programs and fire 67 professors, The Fix previously reported.
West Virginia University is also exploring cuts to academic programs and faculty jobs due to budget issues, The Fix reported.
Meanwhile, a recent report found more than half of recent college grads work in jobs that do not require a degree.
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IMAGE: KARE 11/YouTube
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