By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Six academic majors are being dropped at Bowling Green State University due to Senate Bill 1 requirements.
To comply with the state legislation passed last year, BGSU announced late Friday afternoon that it will suspend new student admissions for six academic majors – including degrees in physics, geography and musical arts starting with the Spring 2027 semester. The university is also seeking approval from the state to reconfigure four additional programs.
The academic majors being eliminated are:
- Associate of Applied Science in Human Service
- Bachelor of Arts in Geography
- Bachelor of Musical Arts
- Bachelor of Musical Composition
- Bachelor of Science in Individualized Planned Program
- Bachelor of Science in Physics
BGSU officials had requested waivers from the state for the physics, individualized program, and the music degrees. However, those waivers were denied.
In order to meet SB 1 requirements, each of the six majors would have had to average at least five students graduating annually over a three-year period. The majors did not meet that threshold.
All students currently enrolled in the academic programs being reconfigured or suspended, as well as students planning to enroll in these programs in Fall 2026, will be able to complete their degrees without interruption or delay, according to BGSU officials.
In addition to shuttering those six majors, BGSU is looking to shuffle some other academic majors. Approval is being sought from the Ohio Department of Education to consolidate four additional programs and create an alternative option. Those majors are:
- Bachelor of Arts in American Culture Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in Popular Culture
- Bachelor of Arts in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Based on internal processes already underway at BGSU, 20 other programs will be reconfigured to meet evolving demand.
“BGSU has long adjusted its academic portfolio – adding, reconfiguring and evolving, and removing – to meet the continuously changing needs of students, industry and community,” BGSU issued in its official statement. “This established internal practice has allowed the university to grow strategically by reallocating resources to areas of increased demand.”
BGSU has reconfigured the programs below with alternative options available based on similar and/or related fields of study. BGSU will suspend admissions for future, prospective students in the following programs starting with the Spring 2027 semester:
- Bachelor of Arts in Art History
- Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a specialization in media production and studies
- Bachelor of Arts in Communication – Theatre
- Bachelor of Arts in Economics
- Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies
- Bachelor of Arts in French
- Bachelor of Arts in Geology
- Bachelor of Arts in Classical Civilization
- Bachelor of Arts in German
- Bachelor of Arts in Latin
- Bachelor of Arts in Russian
- Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy
- Bachelor of Arts in Spanish
- Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies
- Bachelor of Science in Gerontology
- Bachelor of Science in Gerontology with a specialization in long term care administration
- Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Sciences
- Bachelor of Science in Public Health
- Bachelor of Science in Statistics
In May of last year, the BGSU Board of Trustees adopted a series of five resolutions required by the state to comply with SB 1. The legislation faced stiff opposition from professors and administrators.
The resolutions called on the university to:
- “Educate students by means of free, open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth without favoring any ideology and not prohibit speech or lawful assembly,” as well as “to create a community dedicated to an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the autonomy of each member, supports individual capacities for growth, and tolerates the differences in opinion that naturally occur in a public higher education community. “
- Eliminate all considerations of diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring and the creation of new scholarships, and eliminate all DEI programs and offices.
- Establish a workload policy and penalties for faculty members who do not comply with the provisions.
- Use standard state determined questions in student evaluations, such as “Does the faculty member create a classroom atmosphere free of political, racial, gender, and religious bias?”
- Implement a faculty annual performance evaluation policy, post-tenure review policy, and tenure and retrenchment policies. This resolution stipulates that student evaluations will account for at least 25% of the teaching component of a faculty evaluation. This provision will not be imposed until the current contract with the Bowling Green Faculty Association expires on June 30, 2027.
BGSU has discontinued its Division of Inclusion and Belonging, as well as the Center for Women and Gender Equity and the Center for Student Connections and Opportunity, in order to comply with the provisions of SB 1.
The legislation asserts state government control over public universities. The law is a massive higher education overhaul to ban diversity efforts, regulate classroom discussion, and prohibit faculty strikes.
SB 1 also sets rules around classroom discussion, creates post-tenure reviews, puts diversity scholarships at risk, creates a retrenchment provision that blocks unions from negotiating on tenure, shortens university board of trustees terms, and requires students take an American history course.
For classroom discussion, the bill sets rules around topics involving “controversial beliefs” such as climate policies, electoral politics, foreign policy, diversity and inclusion programs, immigration policy, marriage, or abortion.
Both State Sen. Theresa Gavarone, R-Bowling Green, and State Rep. Haraz Ghanbari, R-Perrysburg, voted in favor of the bill.
