Jacksonville University announced April 15 it is eliminating some majors and laying off 40 faculty members in an effort to save $10 million.
JU said the cuts, are part of a “reimagining its academic offerings to propel student success and academic excellence, meet market needs and create long-term financial sustainability.”
“As a premier private, comprehensive university, we are in the business of preparing tomorrow’s leaders for success in their chosen fields. It is our responsibility to continually evaluate how best to achieve that mission by focusing our resources at the intersection of student demand and real-world opportunity,” JU President Tim Cost said April 14 before the announcement was made public.
Cost said beginning in Fall 2025, some “consistently undersubscribed” fields of study will no longer be offered as majors to new, incoming students. The changes will affect the declared majors of about 100 of JU’s nearly 4,200 students.
The university said students enrolled in those majors will be offered a pathway to graduation and the majority are expected to complete their planned degrees through teach-out plans that comply with JU’s accreditation.
“The university of the 2030s will be different than the university of the 1990s. We are going to focus more on business and health care instead of world languages, for example,” Cost said.
Cost said the cuts would reduce the university’s operational costs by about $10 million by the Fall 2025 academic term.
JU said it will continue to offer its 37 most in-demand undergraduate majors and minors, including nursing, health care science, business administration, psychology, computer science, cybersecurity, marine science, aviation, finance, dance, visual arts and media arts, among others. Those study tracks represent the majors of 96% of current students.
JU also will continue to offer 15 graduate programs at the master’s and doctoral levels in fields including clinical mental health counseling, speech-language pathology, public policy, business, marine science and dance.
The JU College of Law, which graduates its first class in May 2025, will continue all programs and offerings. LECOM at Jacksonville University, Northeast Florida’s first four-year medical school, broke ground March 26 and is scheduled to open in Fall 2026.
As of May 5, 2025, the new Linda Berry Stein College of Arts and Sciences will house combined disciplines from the Linda Berry Stein College of Fine Arts & Humanities and the legacy College of Arts and Sciences.
“These important academic decisions reflect hundreds of hours of analysis, consideration, debate and discussion among senior University leaders from all departments, including our faculty,” Provost Sherri Jackson said in an April 15 news release.
“I recognize and thank our highly engaged faculty and the academic affairs staff for their candid and spirited discussions. Their input supports our work to become an even better university for our students.”
JU said work is underway to develop the university’s 2025-30 strategic framework and key priorities, which is expected to be completed this summer.
A 15-member committee is assessing the current higher education landscape, benchmarking and engaging internal and external stakeholders through meetings, surveys and individual and small-group discussions.
Colleges across the country have been laying off employees and eliminating programs to cut costs, according to Inside Higher Ed and other media reports. Reasons cited include declining enrollment and increased operating costs.
“This is a critical moment for the hundreds of universities like ours nationwide to focus and prioritize their academic offerings, serve their core constituents and create long-term financial sustainability,” Chief Financial Officer Kim Banks said in the release.
“The higher education industry nationwide is being asked to re-envision its financial model. We are ready to meet this new landscape.”