As of last week, Syracuse University in Upstate New York is pausing admission for 20 majors, including fine arts and digital humanities, in its College of Arts and Sciences. The decision was made by the institution’s senate in its first meeting of the 2025–26 academic year without faculty input.
“I have not talked to a single faculty member who is not as deeply concerned for the health of this institution and wanting us to have the best possible programs, and this is true of departments that are struggling,” Crystal Bartolovich, an associate professor in the English department, said in the meeting, according to the university newspaper the Daily Orange. “That these decisions were made above us, without our input, is deeply troubling.”
This concern was echoed by other faculty who felt “a disproportionate targeting of humanities programs, and so of course humanities programs are going to have fewer students,” the Daily Orange reported.
The news comes after the institution’s vice chancellor and provost Lois Agnew instructed each dean in a letter dated to August 20 to begin an academic portfolio review of their respective school or college due at the end of the semester.
To complete the task, deans were given nine-year enrollment data and financial metrics from the school. Deans reportedly made “preliminary recommendations” and are supposed to be working alongside faculty about next steps, with some reportedly feeling “bypassed so far.”
“Since 2017, we’ve reviewed individual programs on a four-year cycle, but this is the first time in many years that we’re looking holistically at our entire academic portfolio,” Agnew told the Daily Orange. “This review comes at a critical moment. We’re in the midst of a rapidly changing landscape in higher education.”
Though Agnew said the university remains “financially stable,” there are concerns about its survival “if we continue without change,” she explained, as each of the paused programs reportedly has 10 or fewer students enrolled.
Majors impacted by the pause will no longer appear on Syracuse’s common application for incoming freshman and transfer students. However, classes within these paused programs will still be offered. The pause is expected to last one year, before the administration makes a final decision on each program.
Agnew added, “We hope we’ll be able to ensure that we have a major that’s not only two or three students who are making their way through the major together.”
The only exceptions to this decision are the bachelor of science in Earth Sciences and bachelor of arts and bachelor of science in Ethics, which have officially been cut to account for revamped bachelor of science offerings in Environmental Geoscience and Geology.
The university’s honors program still hangs in the balance, while the following 18 majors were paused:
- African American Studies
- Applied Mathematics B.A.
- Chemistry B.A.
- Classical Civilization
- Classics (Greek and Latin)
- Digital Humanities
- Fine Arts
- French and Francophone Studies
- German Language, Literature, and Culture B.A.
- History of Architecture
- Italian Language, Literature, and Culture B.A.
- Latino-Latin American Studies
- Middle Eastern Studies
- Modern Jewish Studies
- Music History and Cultures
- Religion
- Russian Language, Literature, and Culture B.A.
- Statistics B.A.
At the moment, the decision is not expected to impact master’s or PhD programs.
Though Syracuse has the resources of a large university, it’s hardly the first in recent years to cut arts and humanities programs. In 2023, for example, the San Francisco Art Institute filed for bankruptcy and the for-profit Art Institutes abruptly closed all eight of its locations across Miami, Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, Tampa, Florida, and Virginia Beach that left 1,700 students affected. In 2024, Philadelphia’s University of the Arts also shuttered amid financial constraints and the loss of accreditation.
ARTnews reached out to Syracuse University about the change in its offerings, but the institution did not respond to comment at the time of publication.
