Ohio’s public colleges and universities are set to offer fewer academic majors due to Senate Bill 1, the law overhauling how higher education works in the state.
One of the legislation’s many provisions includes requiring institutions to end programs that don’t graduate an average of five or more students annually over a three-year period.
The majority of Ohio colleges already had processes to regularly evaluate which majors stay or go, a common practice in higher education. Colleges typically allow current students to finish programs that are set to end while restricting new students from enrolling.
But Senate Bill 1 came with a deadline. The law required schools to notify the Ohio Department of Higher Education by late September about programs that didn’t hit enrollment thresholds.
Cutting programs with few students is necessary for colleges to “right-size themselves,” according to the bill’s author, State Sen. Jerry Cirino, R-Kirtland.
“Without this requirement in SB 1, it would take years for this magnitude of retrenchment to occur,” Cirino told Ideastream Public Media earlier this year.
Humanities, liberal arts make up many affected programs
Many programs that don’t meet Senate Bill 1’s enrollment requirements are related to the arts and humanities.
The University of Cincinnati plans to end a music composition degree. One of the eight majors Ohio State University is set to cut includes a medieval and Renaissance studies program. The University of Toledo – which announced its plans before Senate Bill 1 went into effect – will cut Spanish, religious studies and seven other offerings.
Yet cuts hit more broadly at some schools.
Ohio University announced plans to eliminate several bachelor of arts degrees in fields such as chemistry and math. The university will continue to offer related coursework through bachelor of science degrees, according to its August announcement.
Community colleges aren’t exempt from Senate Bill 1 low-enrollment requirements
Community colleges employing tenured faculty members – or full-time educators who’ve earned a certain level of job security – must also comply with this portion of Senate Bill 1. Those with no tenured educators are exempt.
As Signal reported earlier this year, the state’s largest community colleges are responding by cutting dozens of degree offerings ranging from sports and recreation to science and technology.
About half of the 30 programs ending at Cleveland’s Cuyahoga Community College are apprenticeship programs, where students get paid, hands-on work experience while taking classes.
Tri-C officials said that includes degrees such as carpentry technology, ironworking technology and drywall finishing technology.
Colleges play the waiver waiting game
Senate Bill 1 also allows college officials to submit waivers in hopes of keeping low-enrollment degrees alive. The state’s department of higher education created a detailed form for this process. Among other things, it requires college officials to show how the program aligns with the needs of its local workforce and how they plan to boost enrollment and graduation rates.
Institutions can also ask for state approval to merge affected degrees with existing, related programs.
Several colleges submitted waiver requests in this first round. Kent State University did just that for all 24 of its low-enrollment programs, including bachelor’s degrees in philosophy and Africana Studies. The university’s board of trustees later announced 19 of these programs would end. A Kent State spokesperson told Signal the university is still waiting to hear about five outstanding waiver requests.
State officials said they’re still reviewing documents submitted by all colleges and universities, adding that there’s no timeline for when that process will be completed.
“We are giving them a thorough review to make sure all of the required information is present in each request,” an ODHE spokesperson told Signal.
Implementing all of Senate Bill 1’s provisions, which also include requiring faculty to publicly share their class syllabi and ending diversity, equity and inclusion (or DEI) work, will take years to complete.