Ohio colleges massively cut degree programs, and Cleveland’s school buildings are being emptied

Many colleges and universities decided to eliminate a lot of their degree programs, while Cleveland government officials began emptying school buildings to turn them into apartments.

After Republican Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 1 in late June, the state began requiring public colleges and universities to eliminate programs that confer fewer than five degrees per year over three years.

Among the higher learning institutions that complied with the law as of Nov. 14 are the University of Toledo, Ohio University, Cuyahoga Community College, the University of Akron, and Kent State University, according to Cleveland.com.

Cleveland State University also announced it would discontinue 22 programs. However, the university claims the cuts are part of its separate review of the programs begun in 2023 rather than the bill.

Among many degrees that would be eliminated are bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology, Theatre Arts, Physics, Earth Science, Chemistry, Classics, Mathematics and French, among many others.

The colleges and universities assured students who are already pursuing the soon-to-be-terminated degrees that they would be able to finish their degrees. However, people who only plan to pursue these degrees in the future would not be able to do so.

Some universities in neighboring states, such as Michigan and Pennsylvania, used the recent news as an opportunity to attract affected or soon-to-be-affected students by offering them scholarships to their institutions.

One of those institutions was Pittsburgh’s Point Park University, which created the Buckeye Fresh Start Scholarship to offer students from Ohio scholarships ranging from $16,000 to $22,000. The university also provided an additional $5,000 scholarship for students transferring from affected Ohio institutions.

Eastern Michigan University was another institution that attempted to attract students from Ohio by advertising itself as a welcoming public university that would not charge them as out-of-state students.

To cut costs, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District also recently announced that it would shut down 18 of its buildings and drop a handful of leases.

According to News 5 Cleveland, the city’s developers and nonprofits have already turned former schools into apartments, but there are still many properties owned by the district that are vacant.

Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said on Nov. 6 that the consolidation presents “a unique opportunity” to reimagine surplus real estate.

“Over the next couple of weeks, you’ll see a plan be announced from my administration, in partnership with CMSD, outlining our vision for those old school sites to make sure they’re integrated into a broader community development strategy,” he said, according to the station.