University of Utah Cutting More Than 80 Academic Programs
“include a master’s in educational psychology, doctoral in theatre, bachelor’s in German teaching, master’s in modern dance, minors in Russian teaching, and specialized degrees like a Ph.D. in Middle East Studies”
This is happening all over the country. Higher education will have to make do with less.
The College Fix reports:
University of Utah eliminates more than 80 academic programs
University of Utah is eliminating over 80 academic programs, including degrees in modern dance and mining engineering, to reallocate $19.5 million toward high-demand fields such as artificial intelligence, nursing, and data science.
This decision was partially driven by House Bill 265, a new state law requiring Utah’s public institutions to prioritize workforce readiness and student employability.
University of Utah is one of eight colleges and universities in the Beehive State that developed restructuring plans to meet the law’s demands.
Notable cuts at the University of Utah — the state’s flagship research school — include a master’s in educational psychology, doctoral in theatre, bachelor’s in German teaching, master’s in modern dance, minors in Russian teaching, and specialized degrees like a Ph.D. in Middle East Studies, according to university documents.
Some programs were restructured rather than entirely eliminated, and everything from undergraduate studies to PhD programs were targeted.
The reinvested funds will expand on nursing, AI programs, data science, biomedical engineering and interdisciplinary biotechnology initiatives, among other fields, according to campus leaders.
The eliminated programs are part of an ongoing effort at the school beyond the law’s mandate to increase efficiency, campus spokeswoman Rebecca Walsh told The College Fix.
“Academic Affairs leaders have been reviewing low enrollment courses and programs over the past year-including those that have enrolled or graduated between 0 and 15 students annually over the past eight years,” Walsh said via email.
“We are always looking for ways to do things smarter and more efficiently, while being responsive to meeting the needs of our students, the demands of the state’s businesses and workforce, and guidance provided by the Utah Legislature and Utah System of Higher Education,” she said.
Addressing potential backlash, Walsh clarified programs like theater and public administration aren’t vanishing entirely—just low-enrollment specialties. Continuing options remain, such as broader theater degrees and a restructured Master of Public Administration, she said.
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Comments
theres got to be racism in there somewheres with modern dance being dropped
Most of these looser programs can be put under a larger program as concentrations rather than maintaining specialized separate programs, eg group social sciences programs under a singular PhD with concentrations in economics, history, poli sci, etc, and cut out program stupidities. It can be done.
All of the beneficiary majors sound reasonable. I only question why, in an age of increased interest in heavy metals exploration, and given Utah’s geographical location, mining engineering was considered suitable for the chopping block.
I said heavy metals when I meant to say rare earths.
Where are the soft pseudo sciences, the victimology studies, womyns studies, africana studies, etc being cut? They are the least productive, most destructive indoctrination out there.
Too much to hope that a university in Utah might not have offered those to begin with?
I guess not — going here and matching on “femin” pulled up enough woke to choke a bloke.