ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud State University announced cuts Tuesday afternoon. The move comes after the university’s long-term financial woes led to a $14.4 million budget deficit in 2024.
The university said it’s suspending 42 degree programs and 50 minors, alongside eliminating 54 full-time faculty (13%), 42 staff (8%) and four (13%) administrative positions. The College of Education and Learning Design program offerings are being cut by nearly 52% followed by the College of Liberal Arts at nearly 43%. The College of Science and Engineering was impacted the least with a roughly 10% cut. Impacted programs include environmental engineering, economics, criminal justice, gender studies and physical education.
Cuts come after the second largest Minnesota state system school failed to adapt to declining enrollment, Interim President Larry Lee told the St. Cloud Times. The university’s enrollment consistently declined from roughly 18,000 students in 2010 to roughly 10,000 students in 2024.
Lee said the university didn’t adjust its student to faculty ratio during this decline, and with compensation consisting of nearly 75% of the budget, the university fell short. The financial overlook led SCSU to underperform compared to other Minnesota State schools in instructional cost surveys, which are then used to determine state financial assistance.
The Minnesota State system won’t penalize institutions that are within 10% of the set number, Lee said. However, SCSU underperformed by nearly $5.3 million this year, according to a university presentation, causing to the school to get 3.8% less in 2025 funding. The state policy's compound impact, alongside SCSU’s failure to adapt to its student population size, led to Tuesday’s financial dilemma.
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“This system is there to reward those who are efficient, and in a way penalize those who are (not),” Lee said. “We've just been really inefficient in how we deliver our courses, but we're just trying to right that. These unfortunate layoffs (are part of that effort).”
Lee said the university decided on its cuts due to program enrollments, registered credits, degree completion statistics, revenue numbers and more. Due to this approach, only 8% of students are enrolled in suspended degree programs. Impacted students will receive a personalized plan toward graduation, and the university guarantees they’ll graduate on schedule.
When asked about the drastic cuts to the university’s liberal arts and educational programs, Lee said he “didn’t realize” the impact per college due to this approach. The move comes after liberal arts programs are being cut at small institutions across the country.
Impact of St. Cloud State University cuts on St. Cloud
Community leaders expressed concern about SCSU cutting programs, such as the liberal arts, which have an impact on the community beyond the classroom.
“One of the roles of a university is to provide community service in addition to educating students,” Councilmember Carol Lewis said during a city council meeting on Monday. “The cuts affect programs with distinct community connections, and there’ll be ramifications I’m sure were not intended.”
The St. Cloud community is home to a large population of SCSU graduates, and this caused Lewis to analyze the long-term implications this may have on St. Cloud’s workforce. She used the elimination of gerontology, the study of aging, as an example.
“Our population is aging, and we need people…so that our nursing home administrator has a good background on aging,” Lewis said. “With that program going away, we’re not going to have people with a good background working with older people. That, to me, causes a lot of negative impact on our community.
However, students are just one fraction of how the SCSU impacts St. Cloud’s quality of life, Lewis said. The faculty plays a big role. Lewis said she’s worried about how the decimation of the university’s music department will impact the retention of musicians in the area and how that could pose challenges for groups like the St. Cloud Symphony Orchestra.
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“A lot of the professors who teach various instruments are going to leave our community…and I rue the day that this comes through because it’s going to have a negative impact on our (arts) community,” Lewis said.
Despite these cuts, Lee is optimistic of what’s to come. He said the student population size is beginning to stabilize and with these cuts, the university is allegedly on track to recover.
“We have a strong student base with a stabilizing enrollment,” Lee said. “We just have historical expenses that are larger than our revenue that needs to be realigned.”
Robbyn Wacker, Ph.D., the former SCSU president, abruptly left her post last month and Lee, who was vice president of finance and administration, temporarily took over as acting president. Lee, who holds a master’s degree in management with a dual emphasis in both business and higher education administration, announced in late May that he accepted the position of president of Blackburn College in Illinois. On July 1, former Illinois State University President Larry Dietz, Ph.D., will start his two-year tenure as the university's interim president.
“I am pleased that Dr. Dietz has agreed to come out of retirement and lead St. Cloud State University as interim president for the next two years,” Scott Olson, chancellor of Minnesota State said in a release. “Larry’s extensive knowledge and experience in public higher education are the perfect combination for SCSU at this time, and I am confident that under his leadership, the university will move forward to serve its students and employees successfully, the Central Minnesota community, and the entire state.”
Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com
