6 Programs, 37 Jobs to Be Cut at St. Cloud State

Six programs and 37 jobs are on the chopping block at St. Cloud State University as the state institution prepares for a projected budget deficit of $18.3 million, according to The Star Tribune.

Majors set to be eliminated at the undergraduate level are nuclear medicine technology, philosophy, theater, real estate and insurance. A marriage and family therapy program will also be eliminated at the graduate level. Students currently enrolled will be able to finish their programs, the newspaper reported, but new enrollments will not be accepted for those majors. 

St. Cloud State University also plans to lay off 23 faculty and 14 staff members.

University officials noted years of declining enrollment—which has nearly halved the student head count since 2010 to about 10,000—and increased operating expenses, as well as revenue losses prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, as the key challenges that have forced the cuts.