Ohio University programs face elimination after SB 1 takes effect
By: Ty Carpenter
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Dozens of programs at Ohio University may be at risk of elimination under a new state law.
Senate Bill 1, which took effect June 27, requires public universities to eliminate undergraduate degree programs that graduate fewer than five students a year over a three-year period. That count begins with bachelor’s degrees conferred at the end of the coming school year.
Much of the focus on the bill has been over its requirements to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs at state universities. But the bill addresses many other issues involving higher education.
A look at graduation data from 2021 to 2023 suggests that 38 programs at Ohio University could be at risk of elimination unless their numbers increase over the coming years. The data is reported by universities to the Ohio Department of Higher Education, which will enforce the provisions of SB1.
The list of at-risk programs includes religious studies, astrophysics and biological sciences. Many of the programs are in the liberal arts and sciences. 
The religious studies program conferred just one bachelor’s degree from 2021 to 2023, the most recent data available from the state. Loren Lybarger, department chair and professor in religious studies, argued the value of a program cannot be measured purely by degree numbers.
“I think probably the Legislature thought it was the quickest, most clear way to determine which programs would be viable and which were not,” said Lybarger. “But it’s completely arbitrary, right? It’s a failure of really thinking more broadly about what different programs contribute to the curriculum.”
While majors like religious studies and African American studies grant a low number of degrees, they still yield high enrollment numbers through general education requirements. Lybarger says these programs serve essential education roles.
“Many of these programs are targeted because they don’t enroll quite the same numbers as psychology or business majors,” said Lybarger. “Even though all of these all of these departments do a hell of a lot of teaching. … Our classes are generally filled with students. We do a lot of support for general education. And that’s not being counted here.”
Students will have the opportunity to finish their degrees if they are in a program that is being eliminated, said Jeff Robinson, director of communications at the Department of Higher Education. However, no new students can be admitted.
Universities may apply for a waiver to retain programs, or attempt to merge multiple programs in order to meet the degree threshold. Ohio University is already beginning this process with majors in the geography department.
According to a Facebook post by Ryan Fogt, a meteorology and geography professor at Ohio University, “SB1 is going to create some challenges for meteorology at OHIO university. … In the short term, we are merging most of the majors, meteorology included, into a B.S. Geography major.”
Supporters of Senate Bill 1 argue the bill will promote efficiency and job creation, and that maintaining underutilized programs is a waste of funding. But faculty like Lybarger worry this will come at the expense of students’ education.
“The Legislature will tell you we were trying to steward the money that the good people of Ohio provide in the way of taxes,” said Lybarger. “We want to be responsible with that and only give that money to quote, successful academic programs, as measured by majors and not necessarily measured by general education. That I just see is really diminishing and impoverishing the opportunities that Ohio University students might have otherwise in the curriculum.”
Official guidance on the bill can be found here: highered.ohio.gov/sb1