Ohio’s largest community colleges are cutting dozens of programs – ranging from sports and recreation to science and technology degrees – in response to Senate Bill 1, Ohio’s new higher education law.
Public two- and four-year schools were recently required to tell the Ohio Department of Higher Education which programs don’t meet the law’s minimum benchmark of averaging more than five graduates per year over a three-year period.
That will reduce some of the offerings available to the 152,000 people – of whom more than a third were current high school students – who enrolled at one of the state’s 22 community colleges last fall.
State data shows the majority of those community college students attended just five institutions: Columbus State College, Cuyahoga Community College, Cincinnati State Community College, Sinclair Community College and Stark State College.
Signal reached out to those schools to learn what programs they told state officials have low enrollment.
Stark State officials said they didn’t have to flag any low-enrollment programs. That’s because the law says this requirement isn’t applicable to schools who don’t employ any tenured faculty members.
Cincinnati State, which enrolled about 10,000 students in the southern part of Ohio, didn’t respond to repeated requests for comment.
Columbus State eliminates sports and exercise, automotive technology programs
In their responses to Signal, many colleges said they already had internal review processes guiding what programs they launch and end. And, traditionally, community colleges have been more nimble than four-year schools in being able to make program changes.
Columbus State officials said in an email statement it had “a long history of adjusting our academic programs based on student interest and the needs of employers in our region.” They added that the college “almost always” combines a program that’s cut with another similar degree.
That’s the case with several of the five programs the college has cut since Senate Bill 1 went into effect in June. The college folded two now-shuttered associate degree programs focusing on a recreation track within the college’s sports and exercise studies into related degrees.
Columbus State also ended both a physical education coaching degree and a physical education teaching degree. An automotive technology service management program ended, too.
College officials also asked the state department of higher education for waivers for seven additional unnamed programs. If approved, this would give the college a chance to boost enrollment in an attempt to get those offerings above the low-enrollment threshold.
Columbus State is Ohio’s largest community college. More than 28,350 students enrolled last fall.
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Cuyahoga Community College cuts 30 programs
Cuyahoga Community College is ending 30 associate degree programs, Signal reported earlier this month.
The cuts are being made across the college, including in Tri-C’s business, advanced manufacturing, and creative arts departments. Nearly 19,900 students enrolled at the college’s four campuses across Northeast Ohio last fall.
About half of the programs ending are apprenticeship programs, meaning students get paid, hands-on work experience while in school. The college will wind down its carpentry technology, ironworking technology, and drywall finishing technology degrees, among others.
No new students will be able to start these offerings after this semester, but those currently enrolled will be able to finish. That’s a commonality happening at colleges across the state.
Tri-C officials also pointed out the college offers some related certificate programs where students can study similar subjects and earn a credential in a shorter time.
Sinclair Community College cuts chemistry, horticulture degrees
Sinclair Community College identified 14 programs that don’t meet Senate Bill 1’s enrollment thresholds, officials told Signal in an email. The Dayton college enrolled more than 19,520 students last fall.
Like their peers across the state, almost all of Sinclair’s low-enrollment programs are getting folded into other programs. Courses previously offered in a horticulture technician degree, for example, will now exist as a concentration in an agriculture program.
Individual degrees in chemistry, geology and physics will end, but students can still learn about those subjects within a general associate of science degree. Students typically pursue that route to then transfer to a four-year university, according to the school’s website.
“These changes allow us to focus resources where they will have the greatest impact on student success,” officials said.
Only a community and public service associate degree is getting eliminated without a suggested replacement. A listing on the school’s website noted that the degree produced graduates that are “employable in a variety of social service settings, including area non-profits, behavioral health clinics.”