Dive Brief:

• Columbia College Chicago laid off 20 full-time faculty members last week as the private nonprofit looks to “invest in areas that correspond to strong student demand and growth potential,” Suzanne McBride, interim senior vice president and provost, said in a community message. 
• Tenured faculty members held 18 of the eliminated positions, while teaching-track faculty held the other two. Many of the layoffs were in general education areas and tied to an initiative to reduce the college’s core education requirements, giving students more flexibility in their curriculum to take classes in their majors or minors. 
• Columbia has shed employees and moved to cut programs over the past year as it tries to stabilize its finances and downsize in response to falling enrollment.

Dive Insight:

In May 2024, Columbia’s then-president issued a report declaring a potential “existential threat” if the college did not address its diminished enrollment and ballooning deficit. 

Much of the college’s financial pain has stemmed from its shrinking student body. In fall 2023, Columbia had 6,529 students, down 4.3% from five years prior and 35.6% from a decade earlier. 

Leadership has attributed the drop-off to national trends, including demographic declines and shifting attitudes about the value of college. On top of everything else, the college experienced the longest strike by adjunct faculty in U.S. history in 2023. 

With the sliding enrollment has come financial bleeding. Its operating deficit surpassed $20 million between fiscal years 2021 and 2023, before falling to $6.3 million in 2024. The college hasn’t reported an operating surplus since fiscal 2019. 

The institution has looked to address both its financial and enrollment woes in part by paring down its offering. 

Columbia has 58 academic programs. Past presentations have shown that the large majority of those programs lose money per student, with their costs outweighing tuition revenue. A dozen programs lost $10,001 to $20,000 annually in their operations.

“Simple math reveals we are having to deliver a large number of credits to a shrinking number of students with shrinking available resources,” Interim President Jerry Tarrer said in a community message in August, pointing to fall enrollment numbers that came to 5,570 students. 

In December, the college announced it would cut 11 degrees and combine nine others into existing programs or new concentrations — eliminating some 25 faculty jobs in the process. Tarrer said at the time that the cuts were “necessary for the long-term success of our cherished college.” The canceled programs will stop taking new students this fall. 

Along with fewer majors, Columbia has moved to reduce its core education curriculum to give students the ability to take more classes in their majors, complete minors or take courses in an outside discipline, such as business. 

Columbia has set a goal of rebuilding its enrollment to 8,500 students — which would represent an increase of nearly 3,000 students from fall 2024 levels but still well below 2013 levels. Officials also want to increase its retention and graduation rates.