CLEVELAND, Miss. — Shamya Jones faced challenges attending Mississippi State University due to having a new baby and no car, despite winning a scholarship. Instead, she enrolled at a local community college and later transferred to Delta State University, the nearest four-year institution in the rural Mississippi Delta. Her plan to major in digital media arts was disrupted when Delta State cut that program along with 20 other degrees, including history, English, chemistry, and music.
This scenario is increasingly common as rural universities eliminate many majors due to declining enrollment and financial issues, leaving students like Jones frustrated. Rural Americans have limited access to higher education, and the few universities serving them are cutting programs. Some rural private colleges are closing entirely.
Andrew Koricich, a professor at Appalachian State University, noted, “We are asking rural folks to accept a set of options that folks in cities and suburbs would never accept.” When rural colleges cut programs, alternatives are scarce, impacting students’ education choices deeply.
The pandemic has intensified program cuts, especially at rural-serving universities. These institutions, often located away from metropolitan areas, face severe financial constraints. West Virginia University is cutting 28 majors, including most foreign languages, while the University of Montana is phasing out or freezing over 30 programs.
Regional public universities bear the brunt of these cuts, receiving about $1,100 less per student than flagship universities. Despite this, they educate 70 percent of public four-year college students, many from lower-income families or first-generation college-goers.
St. Cloud State University, for example, is cutting 42 degree programs including criminal justice and physics. The University of Alaska System scaled back more than 40 programs. Henderson State University dropped 25 programs, and Emporia State University cut or merged around 40 programs.
“Some institutions have no other options” due to financial pressures, said Charles Welch, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Delta State, for example, faces an $11 million budget gap due to a significant enrollment drop since 2014.
The American Association of University Professors argues that administrators exploit these situations to close programs rapidly. Many affected programs are in humanities and languages, further limiting rural students’ options compared to urban counterparts.
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Rural-serving public universities cutting degree programs
- St. Cloud State University in Minnesota is cutting 42 degree programs, including criminal justice, gerontology, history, electrical and environmental engineering, economics and physics.
- The University of Alaska System scaled back more than 40 programs, including earth sciences, hospitality administration and geography and environmental resources.
- West Virginia University is eliminating 40 undergraduate and graduate majors and programs, including most foreign languages and graduate programs in math and public administration.
- Henderson State University in Arkansas dropped 25 programs in disciplines including history, political science and biology.
- Emporia State University in Kansas cut, merged or downgraded around 40 programs and majors in English, physics, history and chemistry, all language courses except Spanish and minors in French, German and journalism.
- The University of Montana is phasing out, has frozen or has announced that it will closely monitor more than 30 certificate, undergraduate and graduate degree programs and concentrations.
- Delta State University in Mississippi has eliminated 21 degree programs, including history, English, chemistry and music.
- North Dakota State University announced plans to phase out 14 programs, including food safety and soil science, and has proposed getting rid of 10 more. The university did not respond to questions about the status of this process.
- The State University of New York at Fredonia is dropping 13 degree programs, including sociology, philosophy, industrial management, French and Spanish.
- The University of Nebraska at Kearney is cutting nine degree programs, including geography and recreation management.
- SUNY Potsdam is eliminating chemistry, physics, philosophy, French, Spanish and four other degree programs.
- The University of North Carolina Asheville is discontinuing degree programs in religious studies, drama, philosophy and classics, and concentrations in French and German.
- Missouri Western State University eliminated majors, minors and concentrations in English, history, sociology, political science and other subjects.
- Eastern Kentucky University shut down economics and other majors.
- Arkansas State University has shed programs in multimedia journalism and music, a master’s degree in criminal justice and others.
- Dickinson State University in North Dakota eliminated communication, information analytics, math, math education, music and political science, a university spokesperson confirmed.
Rural private colleges closing or cutting majors
In addition to rural-serving public universities and colleges, more than a dozen private colleges serving rural places have closed since 2020.
- Chatfield College in Ohio
- MacMurray College in Illinois
- Nebraska Christian College
- Marlboro and Goddard colleges in Vermont
- Holy Family College in Wisconsin
- Judson College in Alabama
- Ohio Valley University in West Virginia
- Lincoln College in Illinois
- Marymount California University
- Cazenovia and Wells colleges in New York State
- Finlandia University in Michigan
- Presentation College in South Dakota
- Iowa Wesleyan University
- Bacone College in Oklahoma lost its accreditation, filed for bankruptcy and stopped enrolling students
Many rural private institutions are also axing majors, including:
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