Apologies on starting another thread on this topic as there is one on the Goucher forum but that one doesn’t get much traffic and I thought this might be worthy of discussion.
The President’s message to the community:
https://www.goucher.edu/learn/provost/academic-revitalization/community-message
On the face of it this looks absolutely terrible–a college without math or physics or music majors. More careful reading indicates courses in these subjects will still be taught and even required in the case of math to fulfill general requirements. Points I have seen raised in article comment sections include the ability of the school to retain or hire good professors and to attract good students with these changes, that it is a “dumbing down” of higher education and that the college is letting the students direct the offerings rather than crafting a curriculum that provides a well-rounded liberal arts education that must be adhered to if one is to be properly educated. Others lament that STEM is what this country needs and it makes no sense to get rid of it (Goucher had 4 Math majors graduate in 2016).
On the other hand, it is a small school and can’t possibly be everything to everyone. Goucher has a strong Dance major and now no Physics major; MIT has a strong Physics major and no Dance major. Students have different needs and wants and choose accordingly. And perhaps, hopefully, the remaining majors at Goucher that are more popular will receive more attention with these cuts.
Online reaction has been overwhelmingly negative from what I have read: the school can’t even be called a college anymore, it’s going to die a swift death now, it can no longer be recommended, the diploma will be a joke, etc. Though I take most article comments with a grain of salt, it does give me pause as my S19 is/was seriously considering the school and I am now wondering if he should keep it on his short list. His major and minor were not cut.
Are cuts like this the future for smaller schools that want to stay open, or is it better to just close up shop if you can’t or won’t offer things like math and physics as a major ?