WVU Axes 28 Majors and 140 Faculty Jobs Despite Outcries

At a packed meeting disrupted by protesters chanting, waving signs, and shouting, the West Virginia University Board of Governors voted to slash 143 faculty positions and 28 academic programs—including all foreign-language degree programs and graduate degree programs in math. Over the past decade, enrollment at WVU’s flagship Morgantown campus has dropped by 17 percent, while state appropriations fell nearly 36 percent. More public universities like WVU are facing serious financial challenges brought on by state funding cuts, declining enrollments, and, in some cases, years of inordinate spending. Faced with a $45 million budget deficit that was projected to reach $75 million by 2028, WVU president E. Gordon Gee said there was no other choice: “We can’t keep every program. We can’t do everything that we’ve been doing, because we’ve lived beyond our means.” (A Wall Street Journal analysis found that spending at WVU increased by 38 percent between 2002 and 2022.) Other universities are following suit. To close a $9 million budget gap, SUNY Potsdam is looking to eliminate 14 academic programs and significantly reduce faculty positions, while Vermont State University has unveiled a voluntary faculty buyout offer in hopes of avoiding layoffs.