Colleges Cutting Back on the Arts

I have posted in the past on cut backs in conservation programs at various institutions of higher learning. Patricia Cohen writes an article for the NY Times in which she details how many colleges and universities are cutting back programs dedicated to the arts. Cohen, not only touches on the arts, but also mentions other areas where cuts are being made, larger class sizes and increased fees.

Cohen states tens of thousands of students at public and private colleges and universities around the country will find arts programs, courses and teachers missing — victims of piercing budget cuts — when they descend on campuses this month and next.

Cohen continues At Washington State University the department of theater arts and dance has been eliminated. At Florida State University the undergraduate program in art education and two graduate theater programs are being phased out. The University of Arizona is cutting three-quarters of its funds, more than $500,000, for visiting classical music, dance and theater performers. Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts, which supports four departments — dance, music, theater and visual arts — is losing 14 percent of its $1.2 million budget over the next two years. The Louisiana State University Museum of Art, one of the largest university-affiliated collections in the South, saw 20 percent of its state financing disappear. Other private and state institutions warn of larger classes, trimmed offerings, higher tuition and fewer services, faculty and visitors.

To read the full article, click HERE.