Dive Temporary:
- Columbia School Chicago is about to chop 11 levels — 4 undergraduate and 7 graduate — as a part of a finalized plan to revamp program choices and plug price range holes.
- One other 9 applications will mix present levels or new concentrations, which can consequence in the long run of seven standalone levels, in response to a message Monday from Columbia Interim President Jerry Tarrer.
- The personal nonprofit arts school expects to remove as much as 25 school positions by way of the restructuring. “I acknowledge these selections are painful,” Tarrer mentioned. “Nevertheless, these actions are additionally essential for the long-term success of our cherished school.”
Dive Perception:
Columbia has been bracing for program cuts since September when the provost’s workplace really helpful eliminating 10 applications and consolidating many extra.
Earlier than that, Columbia’s earlier president, Kwang-Wu Kim, warned that falling enrollment and projected deficits posed an “existential menace” to the establishment. The previous president mentioned this spring that enrollment had fallen 36% since 2013 and deficits would high $30 million yearly in future years if Columbia didn’t take motion. As of fall 2024, the faculty had 5,450 college students.
Tarrer and Provost Marcella David defined the broader drawback in a September message. “The variety of applications we provide in our program array displays a time once we had many extra college students,” they mentioned.
The pair famous then {that a} majority of Columbia’s applications enrolled fewer than 50 college students and price extra to ship than they collected in tuition.
“This isn’t a sustainable instructional mannequin, and it doesn’t allow innovation: our efforts to proceed to fund our present array of 58 undergraduate applications has stretched us skinny,” Tarrer and David wrote.
Via this system cuts, Columbia expects to fulfill a purpose to save lots of $3.4 million in school wage bills over two years. To get to that purpose, school officers are additionally planning on a spherical of voluntary buyouts this spring.
These applications to be eradicated are:
- Environmental and sustainability research bachelor’s.
- American Signal Language bachelor’s.
- Cultural research bachelor’s.
- Artwork historical past bachelor’s.
- Artistic writing fantastic arts grasp’s.
- Person expertise and interplay design grasp’s.
- Cinema and tv producing fantastic arts grasp’s.
- Performing and up to date efficiency grasp’s.
- Performing and up to date efficiency fantastic arts grasp’s.
- Fantastic arts grasp’s.
- Images fantastic arts grasp’s.
College students enrolled in applications being eradicated will be capable of end their levels as deliberate, the faculty mentioned. The applications will cease taking new college students in fall 2025.
It’s not all cuts at Columbia. The faculty additionally plans to launch a brand new magnificence administration program and is exploring new choices in movie and tv manufacturing, textile design, skilled writing and industrial design.
Tarrer mentioned Monday that Columbia’s purpose is to “preserve our school aggressive in an more and more difficult larger schooling panorama and place our college students to be ever-more aggressive of their skilled endeavors.”