Report: CA Universities Should Consider Cutting Low-Enrollment Programs
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) – A new report has found that the University of California and California State University systems should consider eliminating potentially hundreds of low enrollment programs.
The report by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, "Best Laid Plans: The Unfulfilled Promise of Public Higher Education in California," found that last year, there were 792 programs at the University of California with fewer than 10 students receiving a bachelor's, masters or doctoral degree.
KCBS' Chris Filippi Reports:
In the Cal State system, there were 512 such programs.
"It is crucial to prioritize," said American Council of Trustees and Alumni Vice President for Policy Michael Poliakoff. "No institution, however great and well-funded, can be everything to everybody."
Poliakoff said eliminating the programs is just one proposal. The group said another is for campuses to offer them jointly and share the costs or to move them online.
Poliakoff said educators must make the hard decisions.
"This really is a decision that involved the faculty, the provost, the deans, the trustees and will take that one-by-one decision making," he said.
But university officials advise caution and said the graduation data can be misleading if used as the basis for making program cuts.
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