University of Tulsa announces plans to cut programs

TULSA, Okla. – Students at the University of Tulsa will begin to see major changes at the college in the coming years.

Last week, the university announced that it was planning to reduce degree programs by 40 percent, greatly affecting the liberal arts.

Officials say that over the next two years, the school will begin cutting the programs. Although 40 percent sounds like a lot, university officials say that only about 6 percent of the student body is majoring in those programs.

Authorities say the changes were necessary to prepare the university for a changing job market.

However, former students say they were blindsided by the news.

“We always felt like we had a place to come back to at TU, and we don’t anymore,” said Jacob Patterson.

Patterson graduated from the University of Tulsa with a theater degree, but he just learned that the program is being eliminated.

Jacob Howland, a professor for more than 30 years, said he was also shocked.

“Not to be able to study philosophy and religion? These are the source of the great traditions that are at the heart of a liberal education,” he said. “My interests are fed by the stuff that I teach and vice versa and that’s just being ripped away right now.”

The university told KJRH that current and incoming freshman who have already decided to major in those programs will be allowed to finish their degrees.