Update, April 3: This story was updated last night to include the amount of students in the affected programs and information from university provost Jenn Capps.

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• Cal Poly Humboldt Plans to Discontinue Several Majors, a Minor, and the Economics Program for this Fall

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Cal Poly Humboldt is discontinuing several degrees, programs, and a minor starting this fall semester because of low enrollment numbers.

CPH notified the California Faculty Association that they “wish to discontinue” the religious studies major, the German minor, the economics program and the educational leadership program in January and February of 2025.

The economic department will be absorbed into the department of business, which will offer a minor and an emphasis in economics. 

They also plan to “suspend” the international studies major. 

University provost Jenn Capps told the Outpost there would be no layoffs. 56 students are enrolled in these programs, though she said they would “have a path to completion.”

CFA faculty rights chair and philosophy professor Loren Cannon attributed the program cuts to attempts at lowering expenses. All of those programs are pretty small — “under enrolled,” in university speak, and don’t generate tons of revenue. By absorbing some departments into others, CPH will only have to pay only one department chair instead of two.

However, the CFA doesn’t necessarily believe that small departments are worse than larger ones. Students get more face-to-face time with instructors, and many learn better than they would in a department with hundreds of students. 

Cannon also said that it’s not entirely on the departments for underperforming; perhaps CPH hadn’t marketed or supported them properly. 

“The union does have a very different way of looking at this, in the way [that we] look at opportunities,” Cannon said. “We don’t think it’s a bad thing at all for faculty members to have close relationships and accessibility. But I’m also critical of the way that the CSU spends money.”

According to a recently released CFA study, the CSU spent almost 20 percent more on management salaries during the 2022-23 school year than it did during 2018-19. It also spent 69 percent more on investments. 

“Why does it have to be that the money is siphoned off to investments and other projects?” Cannon asked. “Some of those may be necessary, but the money is not going towards students…The whole point of the CSU is that it’s supposed to be affordable. It’s supposed to be a place to discuss some of the most important questions of our time.”

Asked for comment, the university highlighted the new majors and programs added to the curriculum during the polytechnic transformation, such as mechanical engineering and marine biology, as well as other study abroad programs Humboldt offers:

Cal Poly Humboldt academic offerings continue to be robust, responding to student and workforce demand, contributing to the public good, continuing to build out our polytechnic identity and doing so within constrained resources.

It’s common for academic institutions to streamline programs by adding, modifying and discontinuing academic offerings. In our case, discussions of discontinuing or suspending certain programs have been ongoing in the Integrated Curriculum Committee (ICC), a faculty-lead committee of the University Senate, for quite some time and well before our current budget challenges. In accordance with our collective bargaining agreements, the University notified California Faculty Association (CFA) in January and February that the University is discontinuing the Economics Major, Education Leadership Credential, Religious Studies Major, and the German Minor. Additionally, we are in the early stages of suspending, not discontinuing, the International Studies major. These majors have had low enrollment for a period of several years.

We recognize the value of these disciplines and have been intentional in preserving some of the coursework by incorporating them into new or existing programming. For example, we made the decision to discontinue Religious Studies as a major due to low enrollment numbers, but are sustaining much of the content and important work of the discipline of Religious Studies by making it a concentration within the History Department. The Economics concentration in the Bachelor of Science in Business Administration major and the Minor in Economics are being retained. Additionally, the Economics department and School of Business are in the process of merging, which will create additional opportunities for students and faculty.

There are also a number of options available for international study and global engagement. Some examples include: the International Studies Minor, the Global Studies Concentration in Politics, the International Service Learning Program, study abroad options available in summer and winter breaks, and Anthropology field schools which provide valuable learning and study abroad opportunities.

Since 2023 and the University’s transition to a polytechnic, we have launched 12 new degree programs in a broad range of disciplines including Mechanical Engineering, Applied Anthropology and Marine Biology. We will be launching a number of new programs in 2026 including Applied Humanities, Media Arts, and Health Sciences.