The University of Oregon has unveiled a sweeping plan to cut costs amid a projected annual shortfall of $65 million, including the removal of over 100 staff roles and nearly 20 academic programs. President Karl Scholz presented the proposal to the faculty senate on Wednesday, outlining a 7.25% reduction in spending across administrative and academic units—down from an earlier target of 10%. The university estimates these measures would trim $17.6 million from administrative expenses and $25.8 million from academic costs.
Scholz stated in a campus-wide message that the reductions would be focused rather than spread evenly, aiming to limit disruptions to core operations. The plan is currently under review, with the university seeking input through faculty and staff listening sessions and meetings with vice presidents. A final decision is expected by early December.
Liberal arts programs face steepest cuts
Graduate programs, especially in liberal arts disciplines, would bear the brunt of the academic cuts. The university has flagged 18 programs for elimination, many of which have produced few graduates in recent years. Two programs, Folklore and Operations and Business Analytics, have not awarded doctoral degrees in the past three years. The business school’s Ph.D. in Management program has already halted new admissions after faculty determined it was not meeting student needs effectively.
Affected programs would stop accepting new students in fall 2027, with most master’s programs concluding by spring 2028 and doctoral programs shutting down by spring 2032. The university cited the high cost of graduate student-employee funding as the primary reason for these changes. Graduate assistants who receive Graduate Employee (GE) support, a full tuition waiver and stipend in exchange for teaching or research, represent a recurring financial burden. The plan aims to realign these costs with available resources, prioritizing doctoral programs where graduate students play a key role in faculty research.
The College of Arts and Sciences would reduce graduate student support by up to 40%. Four Ph.D. programs, Architecture; Environment Architecture; History of Art and Architecture; and Planning, Public Policy and Management, would pause recruitment while the university evaluates their cost-effectiveness. The art MFA program would limit annual admissions to five students to control expenses.
Departmental consolidations would also reduce overhead. Classics and Religious Studies would merge, as would earth sciences and geography. The design college would combine with the school of music and dance, and three literature departments, German and Scandinavian Studies, Romance Languages, and Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, could form a single academic unit. Mergers in the design college would begin next fall, with other consolidations following by fall 2028.
Administrative cuts target libraries and staff
The university’s libraries, classified as an administrative unit, would face a 5% budget cut and potentially lose up to eight full-time positions. These changes would mark the second major round of workforce reductions in under two years, following 120 layoffs and 60 vacant position eliminations in 2025.
Enrollment declines lie at the heart of the financial strain. Oregon’s high school graduate population is projected to shrink by 19%, exceeding the national decline of 13%, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The university has also lost ground in student recruitment, particularly from out-of-state applicants, nearly half of its students come from outside Oregon, and their tuition is more than double that of in-state residents.
Scholz acknowledged that these challenges mirror broader trends in higher education, including shrinking student pools, declining enrollment, and reduced state funding. At the start of 2026, Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission said all seven public universities are facing shrinking pools of potential students, declining enrollment and constrained state funding.
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