Denton | March 2026

Education

UNT slashes programs amid $45M budget shortfall

Languages, Literatures, and Cul- tures will merge as degrees from the Department of Linguistics are phased out, UNT stated. The university will close and phase out the master’s in Media Industry and Critical Studies degree, the master’s in Women’s and Gender Studies degree, and the master’s in Early Childhood Education through the Teacher Education and Administration department. UNT will also end its undergraduate major of Latino and Latin American Studies. UNT plans to phase out 25 minor programs and some language minors will also be cut, including Arabic, Italian and Latin. The university cites low enrollment for those cuts. UNT will also phase out 44 graduate and undergraduate academic certicates. The university stated the certicate programs being closed have an average enrollment of less than two students per year. The list of the program closures and merges can be found at www.unt.edu/budget-updates/ academic-programs-update.html.

The University of North Texas plans to phase out or consolidate several programs as the university faces a $45 million budget shortfall. UNT will close or merge various degrees, majors, minor programs and some certication pathways, per the UNT website. Students enrolled in these programs can complete their degrees, but new students will not be allowed to enroll in those programs. Some context The decision comes after ocials announced a $45 million budget shortfall for scal year 2025-26. UNT President Harrison Keller cited several reasons for the shortfall, including a drop in international graduate student enrollment and changes to the state funding formula. Keller said university ocials were considering eliminating low-enrollment courses, freezing hiring for some vacant positions and increasing teaching loads to address the shortfall. Sorting out details The Department of Linguistics and the Department of World

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International graduate student enrollment at UNT The drop in international graduate student enrollment and state formula funding changes contributed to UNT’s $45 million decit for scal year 2025-26.

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