U. of Akron Will Phase Out 80 Degree Programs and Open New Esports Facilities

Emma Pettit:

The U. of Akron announced on Wednesday that it would phase out 80 degree programs. The next day, it announced it would open “the largest amount of dedicated esports space of any university in the world to date.”

The University of Akron will phase out 80 degree programs, about 20 percent of what it now offers, in part, to save money for the future, the university announced on Wednesday.

The cuts come after a yearlong review of Akron’s degrees and degree tracks. Among the university’s strengths are nursing, biosciences, engineering, dance, and music, Akron’s Board of Trustees said in a statement. The 10 Ph.D. programs, 33 master’s programs, 20 bachelor’s programs, and 17 associate-degree programs that will be phased out suffered low enrollment or were duplicates of prosperous programs at other, similar institutions.