American University has begun an estimated eight-month-long evaluation of every major and minor offered at the undergraduate level. By mid-February 2027, administrators will determine whether each program will be maintained, invested in, restructured or consolidated and taught out — meaning students in the program will complete their degrees with no new admitted students.
According to working documents obtained by The Eagle, the review period will begin with each school’s dean, then move through faculty before finally going to Provost Wilkins for final decisions in the spring of 2027. Each school will evaluate its undergraduate programs using a set of 27 criteria questions drafted by the Board of Trustees.
The programs will be measured against the criteria, though it is not required for each point to be met. Programs will also present data on enrollment, class retention and market outcome, according to interviews with senior administrators and a draft of the plan obtained by The Eagle.
The University’s move to review programs comes amid budget shortfalls and decreasing enrollment, and similar cuts to university programs across the country, including New York University and Texas A&M University. Declining undergraduate and international enrollment and reduced state and federal grant funding are among the reasons for higher education’s struggles.
The review will also cover programs in administrative offices, including academic affairs and inclusive excellence, according to an email from Provost Vicky Wilkins obtained by The Eagle.
“This is not just a standard program review that’s done,” Marnel Niles Goins, the dean of the School of Communication, said. “It’s a collective — let’s do this together and let’s talk about, as a university, what are we going to do to make sure that our programs are aligned with the strategic priorities.”
According to Niles Goins, the decision to review was based on a variety of factors. However, Vice President, Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Bronté Burleigh-Jones told The Eagle it is not in response to budget issues.
“The program review is not tied to a defined savings number,” Burleigh-Jones told The Eagle in an email. “The review is based on the criteria that Provost Wilkins spoke about to ensure that our academic offering is meeting the needs of our students and evolving with the many changes happening in higher education and the workforce.”
Syracuse University’s 2025-26 portfolio review resulted in nine majors being “sunsetted,” meaning incoming students will not be able to enroll in them. Additionally, several majors at Syracuse will be restructured or merged with other majors, but current students will be able to complete their required courses and graduate within their major.
Comparatively, American University’s drafted documents explain that some programs will be designated for “teach out,” so students enrolled in majors to be sunsetted can complete their degrees. Meanwhile, as students in these programs diminish, faculty will also slowly diminish — reallocated to different programs or leaving the University entirely.
“I just want to be very clear, some tough decisions are gonna be made,” Niles Goins said.
According to the draft academic portfolio review documents, the process has two main intended outcomes: to ensure that programs match the strategic goals, and that the number of faculty correlates with student class demand.
Also in the drafted documents, the University has listed working criteria questions grouped under five general umbrella terms: Mission alignment, student demand, financial profile, market relevance and innovation potential.
“It can’t just be one question. It has to give everyone an opportunity to talk about the benefits of their program and even frankly, to talk about where your program will go,” Niles Goins said.
Many of the working criteria points focus on whether a program contributes research opportunities to uphold the University’s R1 label and the extent to which it aligns with the new Strategic Plan. The drafted questions will have two rounds of feedback opportunities for staff and faculty, according to Provost Wilkins.
“My notion is, the best decisions will come around having a really broad set of criteria, really good data to match with that and letting schools tell their story,” Provost Wilkins said.
According to the draft documents, the University requires each department to report data on “student success,” which will be defined by retention and degree progression rates.
This data will be included in the working criteria for each evaluated program. Provost Wilkins said that the University plans to use these data packages and the required credit hours for each program to help ensure equal evaluations.
Each program’s five-to-seven-year history will include the number of all students in each major and minor, the number of courses offered, the number of sections per term by level and whether the sections hit enrollment targets.
Student success evaluations include programs from first to second year retention and graduation rates. The portfolio review will also look at progression metrics such as the percentage of majors reaching credit milestones on track.
For programs allocated to the “maintain” category, the plan states that they may still see some program changes, whereas three-to-four programs deemed “central to AU’s mission and strategy” will be allocated for investment. Programs that the University decides need substantive changes will be categorized as “watch, redesign, or consolidate,” meaning they will likely see large changes to curriculum and structure, or be moved to collaborate with other programs in the same group.
“There are gonna be some things that we’ll have to redesign,” Niles Goins said. “To me, it’s healthy for any university to do that regardless of whether [you] have a deficit or you’ve got fewer students.”
Alongside the nationwide academic reviews, the University is experiencing a uniquely low enrollment decline, with 11 percent of accepted students from the 2025 admissions cycle choosing to enroll at the University.
“I think what's really scaring [administrators] is the enrollment decline. It just keeps getting worse and worse,” John Bracht, a biology professor and the president of AU’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said of the portfolio review.
Bracht said he is especially concerned about faculty terminations during the review. Term faculty are part of the University’s yearly review, and their reappointment correlates with student enrollment. Bracht said that while the University stated there would be no cuts or layoffs this year, when he asked about term faculty renewals during the April 9 forum, the answer was that there would be a decrease.
“In the face of enrollment declines, the University can still cut people — I mean, that’s the reason universities go for term faculty,” Bracht said. “This is just a fundamental inequity in higher education structure.”
Some program faculty members are especially worried about how layoffs and sunsetting majors will impact certain departments. Theresa Runstedtler, professor and chair of the Critical Race and Gender Studies program, expressed concerns for liberal arts departments such as history and literature.
“[In] literature, history and then all of the various interdisciplinary programs in units like CRGC, we’re very concerned about it because we’re not that legible in the strategic plan,” Runstedtler said.
The working documents obtained by The Eagle highlight “anticipated risks” alongside the academic reviews. The draft states concern of “perceived violation or shared governance,” “disruption to the AU course,” and scrutiny around areas such as diversity, equity and inclusion and social sciences that can “complicate the narrative about why programs are being invested in or closed.”
It also expresses concerns about student mobilization and media coverage poorly framing the process as “gutting the humanities, DEI or other sensitive areas.”
Provost Wilkins said she believes that this review is important for the University to allow reinvestment in new things, including matching technological advancements and student interests.
“One thing we are concerned about is having the programs that retain students and help them have points of discovery, and that, again, is hard to do if you don’t take a good look at your offerings,” Wilkins said. “As Provost, I’m kinda like we’re gonna do this together. It’s not something I could do alone, and I don’t pretend I have the knowledge to do it alone.”
This article was edited by Owen Auston-Babcock, Payton Anderson and Gabrielle McNamee. Copy editing done by Avery Grossman.
investigations@theeagleonline.com
