STRATEGIC ACADEMIC PROGRAM PRIORITIZATION: IN THEORY AND PRACTICE

William Fannin
Anshu Saran
University of Texas of the Permian Basin

ABSTRACT

Not every college or university can offer every degree program. Whether it is times of
abundant resources or times, similar to the last decade, when higher education has faced severe
budget reduction, higher education leaders must decide which programs to add to their institutions
and which programs to close. In the last decade many colleges, universities, and university
systems have undergone formal programs of assessing academic degrees under the banner of
program prioritization, “right sizing”, program quality review, and/or low-producing program
reviews. This study examines the models proposed for university program prioritization found in
the academic literature with those in actual use over the last decade. The objective of this study is
to determine which approaches did universities actually use compared to models prescribed in the
literature in the hope of providing insight to higher education administrators considering this form
of planning tool.

Keywords: university priorities, program planning, university planning, program mix