IU to Suspend Hundreds of Degrees/Programs by Fall 2026

As of July 1st, 116 degree programs at IU Bloomington are slated for elimination, suspension, or consolidation in lockstep with Republican Governor Mike Braun’s assault on higher education across the state. At IU Bloomington, many of these consolidations are slated for Academic Year 2026–2027. In a press release, the Governor bragged that 19% of all degrees across Indiana were forced into suspension.

It remains unclear what the future looks like for programs slated for consolidation. Consolidated/eliminated programs will not be able to sustain the same SAA positions, tenure lines, and staff positions. Reductions in faculty put more strain on graduate workers and adjuncts, producing more precarity across the university. Students will have fewer degree paths and a less rich education as courses offered by these departments become unsustainable. As a result, IU becomes less competitive in admissions and IU degrees become less valuable overall. And these effects won’t just be limited to these smaller programs; departments which currently aren’t at risk will be asked to absorb those impacted students and faculty, placing strain on their budgets and capacities. What is clear is that this drastically impacts not only working conditions, but the quality of education at IU and across the state.

At the same time as 19% of higher education was slashed, the Governor has taken control the IU Board of Trustees, filling it with hand-picked anti-labor and anti-higher-education trustees. These new trustees immediately gave IU President Pam Whitten another bonus, taking her total compansation to over 1.1 million dollars—despite less than 8% of the IU community believing she is right for the job. In the same meeting, the Board of Trustees reduced pensions for staff by 1%, citing budget concerns.

People like Whitten, Braun, and the Board of Trustees see IU as a place to enrich themselves at the direct expense of students, faculty, and staff. They have no interest in education or research. They don’t care about the people this university is meant to serve. They’ve forgotten that the real work of the university is in the classrooms, archives, and labs.

Our research, our teaching, and our labor powers this university—not the Governor or the IU President. The workers who make this university function deserve a say in how it runs.

Because many of these consolidations won’t occur until Academic Year 2026–2027, there is still time to organize to save our departments and our programs, and give workers more say over their conditions.

We’re organizing to save this university. Join us!