Higher education’s season of retrenchment has continued into the fall semester, with public and private institutions around the country shedding programs and employees as they grapple with heavy competition for students, soaring costs and revenue constraints.
The cuts often follow other, less drastic measures to plug budget gaps, such as leaving positions unfilled and reducing nonpersonnel budgets.
In many cases, administrators are looking to trim programs they say are underenrolled and losing money, and instead focus where they see the most student interest.
Columbia College Chicago, for instance, flagged 12 programs that lost an average of $10,001 to $20,000 annually per student, and another 38 that lost between $5,001 to $10,000 as costs fell short of tuition revenue.
Often, rollbacks have led to pushback and outright conflict on campuses. Wittenberg University, in Ohio, saw protests and a no-confidence vote amid discussions of cuts. At Western Illinois University — which faced some of the largest recently announced cuts, with nearly 90 faculty and staff roles to be eliminated — an employee union official described looming layoffs as “a desperate attempt by this administration to appear as if they are taking bold action.”
The cuts across higher ed speak to the broad financial struggles in the sector, as well as to the individuality of the institutions. While many are making cuts, each situation is unique.
Here’s a look at some of the most recent restructurings in higher ed:
