US Colleges Cut Programs Because of Budget Deficits, Fewer Students

Christina Westman hoped to become a music therapist when she came to St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. But that became impossible when the college announced a plan to cut its music department along with 42 other study programs.

The move is part of a wave of program cuts among small and large colleges in the United States. The aim of the cuts is to deal with budget deficits. Causes for the deficits include less government money, rising operational costs and fewer students.

The cuts mean more than reduced budget deficits or job losses. “For me, it's really been anxiety-ridden,” said Westman. "It's just the fear of the unknown.”

At St. Cloud State, most students will be able to finish their degrees before the cuts. But Westman is transferring to Augsburg University in Minneapolis.

Colleges are holding on

For years, many colleges avoided making cuts, said Larry Lee. He was acting president of St. Cloud State but left last month to lead Blackburn College in Illinois.

The number of students enrolling in college dropped during the pandemic. But officials hoped the number would return to levels that existed before the COVID pandemic. They had used federal aid money to ease budget deficits.

“They were holding on, holding on,” Lee said.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center said students have begun to return to two-year community colleges. But the numbers for four-year colleges remain lower than expected. Even without growing concerns about the high cost of college and student debt, the population of young adults in the U.S. is shrinking.

Birth rates fell during the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009 and never recovered. Now smaller classes of high school students are preparing to finish and head off to college.

“It's very difficult math to overcome,” said Patrick Lane, a vice president at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education.

In addition, the new federal government's financial aid application has created more confusion. Millions of students are wondering where to go to college and how to pay for it.

Katharine Meyer is an expert with the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution. She said, “I think a lot of colleges are really concerned they're not going to make their enrollment targets.”

Many colleges like St. Cloud State had already faced budget problems. The university's enrollment rose to around 18,300 students in the autumn of 2020 before steadily falling to about 10,000 students in 2023. Its student population has stopped shrinking. But the budget deficit totaled $32 million over the past two years, forcing the sweeping cuts, Lee said.

Some colleges are closing

Some colleges have taken the more extreme step of closing.

That happened at the 1,000-student Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama, the 900-student Fontbonne University in Missouri, the 350-student Wells College in New York, and the 220-student Goddard College in Vermont.

Cuts, however, are more common. Two of North Carolina's public universities in Asheville and Greensboro plan to cut 14 programs including ancient Mediterranean studies and physics. Arkansas State University announced it was ending nine programs. Three of the 64 colleges in the State University of New York system have also cut programs because of low enrollment and budget problems.

Other schools cutting study programs include West Virginia University, Drake University in Iowa, the University of Nebraska campus in Kearney, North Dakota State University and nearby Dickinson State University.

Experts say it is just the beginning. Schools that are not making cuts now are examining their class offerings. At Pennsylvania State University, officials are looking for similar or under-enrolled programs to cut.

Humanities and small programs affected

The most affected programs are usually smaller ones and those in the humanities, which now have fewer students than 15 years ago.

“It's a humanitarian disaster for all of the faculty and staff involved, not to mention the students who want to pursue this stuff,” said Bryan Alexander, a Georgetown University senior scholar who has written on higher education. “It's an open question to what extent colleges and universities can cut their way to sustainability.”

Terry Vermillion recently retired after 34 years as a music professor at St. Cloud State. He said the cuts are hard to watch after the pandemic.

“We were just unable to really effectively teach music online, so there's a gap,” he said. “And, you know, we're just starting to come out of that gap and we're just starting to rebound a little bit. And then the cuts are coming.”

Lilly Rhodes is a music major at St. Cloud State. Rhodes said, “There's no musicians coming in, so when our seniors graduate, they go on, and our ensembles just keep getting smaller and smaller.”

“It's a little difficult to keep going if it's like this,” she added.

I'm Mario Ritter Jr.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

Heather Hollingsworth reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted it for VOA Learning English.

__________________________________________

therapist –n. a person who treats people with medical conditions but is not a doctor and does not use drugs

anxiety-ridden –adj. filled with nervousness, worry or tension

transfer –v. to change enrollment from one school to another

enroll –v. to go through the process of being accepted to a school

confusion –n. a state of being unsure about something

faculty –n. the teachers at a school, college or university

staff –n. employees who are not faculty members

sustainability –n. the ability to carry on business so that income meets or is greater than costs

gap –n. something that is missing

ensemble –n. a small group of musicians who play together