JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Jacksonville University announced this week that it is eliminating some majors and laying off 40 faculty members 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.”
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“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,” said Kim Banks, Chief Financial Officer. “The higher education industry nationwide is being asked to reenvision its financial model. We are ready to meet this new landscape.”
The University expects to reduce controllable expenses by 10% across all of its operations by Fall 2025.
“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 Monday before the announcement was made public.
The reimagined academic offerings include:
· Jacksonville University will continue to offer its 37 most in-demand undergraduate majors and minors, including nursing, healthcare science, business administration, psychology, computer science, cybersecurity, marine science, aviation, finance, dance, visual arts and media arts, among others. These offerings represent the majors of 96% of current Jacksonville University students.
· The University will continue to offer 15 graduate programs at the masters and doctoral levels in high-demand fields such as clinical mental health counseling, speech-language pathology, law, public policy, business, marine science and dance. The highly successful College of Law, which graduates its first class in May 2025, will continue all programs and offerings. LECOM at Jacksonville University, the area’s first four-year medical school, successfully broke ground on March 26, 2025 and remains fully on track 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 traditional College of Arts and Sciences. Led by Dr. Christopher Corbo, this college will serve approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 15 fields of study in the School of Fine Arts and Humanities, the School of Social Sciences and Education, and the School of Science and Mathematics.
· Beginning in Fall 2025, some consistently undersubscribed and specialized fields of study will no longer be offered as majors to new, incoming students, and some programs will be sunsetted. These changes affect the declared majors of about 100 of the nearly 4,200 students. In all cases, all current students in those majors will be offered a pathway to graduation from JU, and the vast majority are expected to complete their planned degrees through teach-out plans that comply with the University’s accreditation.
· The University held meetings with these students this morning and is providing comprehensive, dedicated Care Team services to discuss personalized academic plans. The Care Team includes representatives from the registrar’s office, student affairs, academic advising, student financial services and the career exploration office.