“Public universities in Indiana voluntarily will cut 75 different degree programs, including 68 with zero enrollment, as part of a state budget bill. More than 300 other degrees will either be suspended or consolidated as part of a new requirement to weed out low-enrollment programs,” reports The College Fix:
House Enrolled Act 1001 requires the suspension of low or zero enrollment programs unless a waiver is obtained by the state….The Indiana Commission for Higher Education announced in a news release “that six of the state’s higher education institutions voluntarily submitted more than 400 programs for elimination, suspension, or merger/consolidation.”
The legislation affects 404 programs across Indiana. So far, 229 programs will be merged and consolidated with other programs, while 101 will be suspended with teach-out, and 74 programs will be eliminated in their entirety.
Ball State University in Muncie led the list with 51 total programs either being eliminated or consolidated. The school will eliminate its master’s degree in Teaching Major in English/Language Arts, along with programs in software engineering, German education, and chemical technology.
Other universities have offered to cut degrees in journalism, unmanned systems, theatre and drama, and nursing education. Many of the programs are narrow education degrees or graduate programs.
A higher education expert said the budget bill will “have a positive effect.” “By identifying under-enrolled programs and taking action, universities demonstrate fiscal responsibility and responsiveness to changing needs,” Doan said. “For example, West Virginia University, without legislative prompting, cut about 30 academic programs, and as my Heritage Colleague Adam Kissel said, “saving tens of millions of dollars annually through ‘right-sizing.’”
