Columbia College Chicago could cut or consolidate at least 18 “underperforming” majors from its curriculum citing financial reasons as it undergoes an “evaluation of programmatic offerings,” a lengthy announcement from the school said Thursday.
“The program array we currently offer as a college costs significantly more to deliver than we collect in tuition revenue,” the announcement read in part. “We must reduce the number of programs to eliminate these losses. This charge gives us the opportunity to reimagine programs and realign them to market, expertise and distinctiveness.”
The message went on to say that the schools currently offers “too many programs with a complicated pathway to complete a degree.”
“De-cluttering program pathways will reduce costs and improve student retention,” the announcement said.
The move will ultimately reduce and consolidate what the school called an “underperforming program array” to approximately 40 programs, in hopes of helping the college return to a more healthy financial position. A full list of current programs and majors at Columbia College can be found here.
The current list of programs Provost Marcella David recommended cutting represents 312 enrolled students out of a total enrollment of 5,600, the announcement said. The impact on faculty was not expected to be determined until the list of recommended program eliminations was final.
A final list of program changes, cuts and “consolidations” is expected to be announced in early 2025, school officials said, and changes would take effect in the fall of 2025. Meetings with school leadership are expected to take place this year.
At least 18 programs and degrees are currently under consideration to be phased out of consolidated, the school said, in addition to three programs that are already in the process of “winding down” — a Bachelor of Science in acoustics, a Bachelor of Arts in Documentary and a BA in Television Writing and Business.
According to the school, David currently recommends the following programs be “phased out”:
- Environmental and Sustainability Studies
- Cultural Studies
- MFA in Fine Arts
- MFA in Photography
- MFA and MA in Theatre Graduate Programs
- BA in American Sign Language-English Interpretation
- BA in Art History
- BA in Creative Writing
- Media for Social Impact
David also recommended the school “explore the following combinations of programs:”
- BFA and BA in Dance
- BA and BS in Programming
- Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media
- Game Art, Animation, Game Design, Programming
- Graphic Design and User Experience/Interaction Design
- Journalism and Photojournalism
- Theatre Design and Production (Writing, Directing, Stage Management)
- Theatre and Dance Performance and Movement (Acting, Musical Theatre, Dance)
- Arts/Entertainment Management and Music Business
- Music Composition, Recording, Performance, and Business
Finally, the David recommended the school review the following programs “to achieve efficiency and foster further growth:” Dance BA, Music Tech BS, Film and Television, Marketing, Advertising, PR and Comedy Writing and Performance.