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Dive Brief:
- Baldwin Wallace University is sunsetting nine undergraduate majors, seven graduate programs and 19 minors as the institution refocuses around its most popular offerings.
- The Ohio private nonprofit is discontinuing 10 faculty positions, or about 2.5% of its full-time workforce, due to the cuts, President Lee Fisher said last week in a message to faculty and staff.
- The goal, Fisher said, is to create more capacity to invest in programs “where student interest is growing, workforce demand is strong, and Baldwin Wallace can build distinctive excellence.”
Dive Insight:
The cuts will leave Baldwin Wallace with a portfolio of 62 programs that, according to Fisher, have “the highest student demand and successful outcomes across a wide range of specialties and industries.”
Some 95% of students will be unaffected by the program wind-downs, a university spokesperson said by email. Many of the undergraduate minors set for elimination have no students, while the undergraduate majors “have extremely low numbers of students enrolled in them,” in some cases fewer than three, the spokesperson added.
The undergraduate program closures include economics, human resources, music theory, sociology, sustainability, physics and community health education promotion. The graduate cuts include Baldwin Wallace’s master’s programs in education and an MBA specialization in human resources management.
Students in affected programs will be able to complete their studies at Baldwin Wallace.
Fisher described the programs slated for closure as “no longer competitive, distinctive, or financially sustainable within the current higher education landscape.” He also pointed out that some courses in the affected fields will still be taught as part of other programs and Baldwin Wallace’s broader curriculum.
The cuts came from an academic review process that began in January.
“This is not simply about reduction — it is about making intentional choices to strengthen our future by focusing our resources where they can have the greatest impact,” Fisher said in his May 13 message.
The academic restructuring comes less than two years after Baldwin Wallace cut 10 programs and laid off nearly 30 employees to address a budget gap, become more efficient and align with student demand.
As it pares down its offerings, the university has eliminated its deficits in recent years. In fiscal 2025, Baldwin Wallace reported a total surplus of $9.4 million after posting losses of $7.1 million and $11.4 million in fiscal years 2024 and 2023, respectively.
The university’s fiscal 2027 budget, approved by its board on May 8, puts Baldwin Wallace “on a clear path to financial sustainability,” Fisher said. “This budget is premised on our belief that our mission drives our work, but our financial margin sustains it.”
The university’s enrollment has fluctuated in recent years, with its fall 2024 headcount of 3,305 roughly flat from the year before and more than 80 students higher than in 2022. However, that was about 200 fewer students than the pre-pandemic level in 2019, per federal data.
