Every year, the State Regents flag programs that don't meet minimum criteria as "low-producing." They use two criteria to determine productivity: the number of students who graduate from a program and the number of students enrolled.
Not accounted for are factors like program costs, tuition revenue or employment after graduation. Currently, about one in five degree programs across the state is deemed low-producing.
Schools have been required to review each of their low-producing degree programs every five years since 1996. But those audit cycles were unsynchronized and staggered. This summer, the Regents requested an across-the-board review for all low-producing Oklahoma higher education degree programs. The idea is to align state higher ed spending with workforce needs.
The results of that review were discussed during a Dec. 4 Regents meeting. Across the state, nearly 360 degree programs were flagged for low productivity. Of those, 41 programs will be eliminated and 21 will be suspended. The other 300 programs could stick around. Schools can request to keep programs deemed low-productivity if they have specific plans to grow the program, if it shares costs with another program or if it is in collaboration with another school.
Most affected is the University of Oklahoma, which is getting rid of one PhD program, five masters programs and 8 undergraduate degrees.
Statewide, programs teaching foreign languages, music, education, geography, mathematics and basic sciences qualified as low-productivity at multiple universities. Highly specialized programs also pop up often on the list — things like Langston's masters in visual rehabilitation services or OU's bachelors in piano pedagogy.
To see a searchable table of low-producing degree programs, visit this link.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
