UNL Proposes Cutting Educational Administration Department

"If the plan goes through, faculty members and students worry the state will be left without a key pipeline to fill leadership roles at local schools and colleges, particularly in rural areas. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is the only university in the state that offers a Ph.D. program in educational leadership or higher education, which has a distinct scholarly focus, while Ed.D. programs and master's degrees to train education leaders can be found elsewhere."

""It's hard for me to imagine the flagship university in a state does not offer a program to prepare future principals, future superintendents, future leaders of colleges and universities," said Crystal Garcia, an associate professor and Ph.D. coordinator in the department. Eliminating the department would be "really doing a disservice to education as a whole in the state of Nebraska." She noted the department is "incredibly impactful," serving 316 current and incoming graduate students."

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln faces a deep budget deficit driven by rising costs, declining international enrollment, and flat state funding. Administrators proposed merging or cutting multiple programs to reduce the budget by $27.5 million and eliminate 58 roles, including 17 from the educational administration department. The plan would close the department that houses the state's only Ph.D. program in educational leadership and higher education while potentially retaining the master's program elsewhere. Faculty and students warn that eliminating the department would weaken pipelines for principals, superintendents, and rural school leaders and harm statewide educational leadership capacity.

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