Syracuse University will phase out nine humanities-based majors in the College of Arts and Sciences as part of ongoing cost-cutting efforts driven by declining enrollment and mounting financial pressure, according to an email from CAS Dean Behzad Mortazavi to department heads obtained by Syracuse.com.
The nine programs being eliminated are Classical Civilization, Classics, Digital Humanities, Fine Arts, German, Latino-Latin American Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Modern Jewish Studies, and Russian.
Current students enrolled in these majors will be allowed to finish their degrees, but the university will no longer accept new students into these programs. Students will still be able to minor in and take courses in these subject areas, and the departments that house these degrees will continue to operate, according to Syracuse University News.
The decision was driven largely by low enrollment numbers. Many of the affected programs had fewer than 20 students in recent years, according to faculty members who spoke to Syracuse.com.
"We cannot maintain so many programs with such low enrollment while effectively meeting our students' needs," Provost Lois Agnew said at an October University Senate meeting.
Beyond the nine eliminations, three additional majors, African American Studies, Music History and Cultures, and Religion, will be "re-envisioned," though specific details about those changes have not been released. Five other programs will be restructured or merged.
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The Art History BA will combine with the History of Architecture BA, the Modern Foreign Language BA will become the World Languages and Cultures BA by absorbing the Italian and French programs, and the Applied Mathematics BA and BS will add Statistics tracks, Academic Jobs reported.
The cuts are the latest step in a portfolio review that began in August and led the College of Arts and Sciences to pause admissions to 18 majors last fall. Changes are now planned for 17 of those programs.
University spokesperson Sarah Scalese said no jobs have been identified for elimination at this time, but acknowledged that teaching assignments and workloads could be affected.
However, not all faculty are reassured. Professor Zak Braiterman of Modern Jewish Studies called the cuts a sign of the university's "lack of dedication to the humanities." A faculty census presented at a University Senate meeting found that SU lost 44 faculty members between 2024 and 2025, most of whom were non-tenured professors.
Syracuse has faced a series of financial challenges over the past year. A drop in international student enrollment, from 12% of the incoming class in 2023 to just 5% most recently, has cost the university significant revenue, as international undergraduates typically pay full tuition of $66,580 per year, as per Daily Orange.
Visa processing disruptions and a broader demographic decline in college-age students have compounded the problem. Rising demand for financial aid and the growing cost of compensating student-athletes have further strained the budget.
