A little more than a month after MU submitted its own report listing “low-producing” degree programs, the Missouri Department of Higher Education released its report about the subject Wednesday, revealing plans to eliminate 116 degree programs statewide and 19 at MU.
Gov. Jay Nixon, who will still need to sign off on the report, required the agency to review programs that might not meet the Coordinating Board for Higher Education’s productivity criteria.
CBHE defines these, “low-producing” programs as those producing less than 10 graduates per year at the baccalaureate level, five per year at the master’s degree level and three per year at the doctoral degree level.
After deliberating over a list of programs since September, 116 programs will be terminated across the state of Missouri. This amounts to 20 percent of all programs originally slated for review. An additional 24 programs will be moved to inactive status, and 175 will be up for review again in three years.
At MU specifically, 69 programs were originally put up for review. Students enrolled in the 19 deleted programs will be permitted to complete their degrees, as the majors will be phased out over time. MU saw the highest number of program deletions, followed by Metropolitan Community College and the University of Central Missouri with 11 deletions.
Among the deleted programs is the Natural Resources master’s degree, something School of Natural Resources Director Mark Ryan wasn’t happy about when the cuts were originally made in November.
“It is a small degree program for early to moderate career professionals to upgrade their skills credentials,” Ryan said. “Cutting it will save no money.”
One of the initial purposes of the evaluation was to cut higher education costs. Upon CBHE Chairman Lowell Kruse’s request for the actual savings of the cuts at a Thursday meeting, MDHE did not answer.
Six new programs are being proposed, and 13 are recommended for follow-up in three years. MU programs up for reevaluation include the agricultural journalism bachelor’s degree and the theatre master’s and doctoral programs.
State officials said the purpose of this review was to improve the efficiency of higher education, but Higher Education Commissioner David Russell said in a news release it also exposed some serious problems in Missouri’s postsecondary education system.
“Many fields that have been identified as crucial to the state’s economic growth and global competitiveness were among the low-producing degree programs,” Russell said. “Foreign languages, teacher education and STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — were prominent on the list of fields with few graduates. This is a concern that must be addressed across K-12 and higher education.”
The state is concerned because a number of the programs, namely those falling under the STEM and foreign language categories, on the chopping block fall under areas it deems necessary for the state to thrive economically.
To help improve this process, the report also includes a list of eight suggestions from MDHE to improve the efficiency and productivity of public institutions. These suggestions range from improving the productivity of high-priority programs to continuing analysis of program duplications.