Higher education commissioner flags 8 UM programs in review

The University of Montana’s Japanese, Russian and geosciences programs are among eight “red” programs flagged for review across all Montana universities.For the last two years, the University ran its own academic portfolio review to find inefficiencies and programs that could be cut. Now, the Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education has started its own annual review pilot for every Montana University System school.The University’s Office of the Provost began an annual academic portfolio review in 2024, creating a system to make cuts and changes to survive the incoming enrollment cliff. The cliff is the result of the 2008 recession, which led to a drop-off of birthrates and therefore college-aged students today. The Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education took up its own annual review process modeled closely after the system accepted by the UM provost.

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