JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Jacksonville University announced it’s sunsetting programs beginning in Fall 2025, as well as cutting expenses as part of its “Future Focused” initiative. “It’s the next iteration in our strategic planning to improve everything, from academics and operations to financials. So we’re focusing a lot now on what we think the Jacksonville region needs, which is what we do in teach[ing] in health care, business, and technology,” says JU President Tim Cost.
Cost says 40 faculty members will be laid off as part of the new initiative, and the changes will impact about 100 of the 4,200 students. “Every one of those 100 is being met with personally, and they’re all being met with a pathway. Nobody who goes to school here will not be able to graduate here. We actually have a group of about 20 students who are being impacted in particular, and I just met with them and offered every one of those 18-20 students a full tuition scholarship, full, through to their graduation and many of them are in their first year...The area that is being impacted more than others, if you will, more than others is we’re reducing our investment in the fine arts, especially music and theatre.”
In a press release, JU says " As of May 5, 2025, the new Linda Berry Stein College of Arts and Sciences will house combined disciplines from the Linda Berry Stein College of Fine Arts & Humanities and the traditional College of Arts and Sciences. Led by Dr. Christopher Corbo, this college will serve approximately 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students in 15 fields of study in the School of Fine Arts and Humanities, the School of Social Sciences and Education, and the School of Science and Mathematics.”
Cost adds that the university is reducing expenses by 10% across all institutions and schools by Fall 2025. “This was not targeted at anyone, this was a comprehensive program.”
According to the press release, the university created an “Academic Financial Task Force” that consisted of administrations and a group of tenured and non-tenured faculty. The release adds that “Collective recommendations reflected hundreds of hours of conversation with Deans, unit administrators and the work of the faculty Task Force. The vast majority of these recommendations were accepted by the University Administration and Board of Trustees.”
You can see video of the announcement below.
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