Columbia College Chicago will eliminate 11 degree programs and lay off up to 25 full-time faculty members starting in the 2025-26 school year, as part of a strategy to address ongoing financial difficulties. Interim President Jerry Tarrer announced the changes on Monday, describing them as essential to keeping the institution competitive in an evolving higher education environment.
“These decisions are painful,” Tarrer said, acknowledging the impact on the college community. “However, these actions are necessary for the long-term success of our cherished college.”
Programs Affected
Starting in fall 2025, the college will discontinue the following undergraduate degrees:
- Environmental and Sustainability Studies
- American Sign Language
- Cultural Studies
- Art History
In addition, seven graduate programs will be cut:
- Creative Writing
- User Experience and Interaction Design
- Cinema and Television Producing
- Acting and Contemporary Performance Making (MA and MFA)
- Fine Arts
- Photography
Nine other programs will be consolidated, with their offerings integrated into existing degrees.
After these changes, Columbia will offer 33 undergraduate and seven graduate degrees. Tarrer emphasized that the revised curriculum will better align with the demands of creative industries and careers.
The move reflects broader challenges facing many higher education institutions as they adapt to shifting student interests and economic pressures.
An analysis by The College Fix found that Columbia University New York has more full-time employees than undergrad students.
There are almost 10,000 full-time employees at the university and 8,262 undergrad students.
Many of the employees are involved in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) positions, however.
For example, the university’s Earth Observatory employs more than 6,700 people, the analysis found, and prides itself on its diverse environment.
The Earth Observatory is committed to fostering a “diverse, nurturing, and vibrant community founded upon the fundamental understanding that all of its members deserve dignity and have value,” its website reads. “We have failed science and ourselves over the last half century by unintentionally and/or intentionally excluding representative numbers of Black people, and other people of color, from our ranks. A renewed and effective dedication to anti-racist practices is imperative to the operation of a just institution and our ability to undertake the most creative, innovative, salient, and beneficial research.”
“Our goal is to create a progressive, anti-racist, inclusive community,” the statement adds. “We must each uphold the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our daily practices. We must make meaningful anti-discriminatory changes to our existing academic and research infrastructures.”
