Jan 17, 2026 By Karen Mansfield 5 min read

Pennsylvania Western University is looking to end four academic majors and 34 minors at its three campuses in California, Clarion and Edinboro while increasing the number of undergraduate certificates offered as part of a comprehensive restructuring.

Students already enrolled in those programs can finish their degrees at their home campus.

PennWest plans to sunset four undergraduate degrees: digital technology, commercial music technology, theater, and legal studies. Two associate degrees – digital media technology and engineering technology – also are slated to be placed in moratorium.

Graduate programs to be cut across all campuses include athletic training, corporate communications, legal studies, and professional accountancy.

At California’s campus, the following programs will no longer be offered, pending approval: graphic design, studio arts, and secondary education – art education.

Minors slated to enter moratorium are: applied data analytics, Arabic, arts administration, athletic coaching, climate change, communication sciences and disorders, creative writing, deaf studies, digital marketing, digital media technology, entrepreneurship, earth and space science, event planning and management, forensic accounting, game programming, geography, global business, health science, human resource management, literature and culture, management information systems, nutrition and fitness, parks and recreation management, personal financial planning, professional writing, sales, social media, social work, Spanish, supply chain management, tourism and hospitality management, theater, theater history and literature, and web programming.

At the same time, PennWest plans to add 18 undergraduate certificates, increasing its certificate offerings from 19 to 37.

PennWest spokesperson Wendy Mackall said some minors will be redesigned as skill-focused certificates.

“For example, PennWest plans to offer undergraduate and post-graduate certificates in Personal Financial Planning and Speech Language Pathology (Communication Sciences and Disorders) as well as undergraduate certificates in Social Media, Nutrition and Human Performance, and Athletic Training, all replacing minors in the same or similar subjects,” Mackall said in an email.

Other examples: PennWest will offer undergraduate certificates in Arabic, professional writing, and entrepreneurship, along with certificate-based programming for teaching the deaf, making the minor in those studies unnecessary, the university said.

In other instances, students in low-enrolled minors will be “better served by more workforce relevant programming already offered or in development.”

“PennWest already offers a certificate in Geographic Information Systems that we believe is more directly relevant to students that our current minor is Geography. We plan to develop certificates in Sustainability, and Weather and Climate Risk Management, that will better serve students than our current minor in Climate Change,” Mackall said in a press release.

It also plans to develop a certificate in performing arts and launched a minor in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

Some PennWest students and alumni have expressed concern about the cuts and changes to the art programs.

PennWest California student Koa Knopsnider has launched an online petition asking the university not to sunset the arts programs on campus. So far, the petition has garnered more than 1,270 signatures.

Angela Schnupp, an art teacher at Connellsville Area Middle School in Fayette County, is a 2009 summa cum laude graduate and presidential scholar from California University of Pennsylvania with dual degrees in studio art and education with a K-12 art certification. She worries about the changes.

“While it may seem like the degree programs with lower enrollment – like art, music, and theater – are easy to cut for financial reasons, they provide local students with more opportunities to enter those fields,” wrote Schnupp. “I graduated from Brownsville Area High School and lived in the district while commuting to PennWest. I wouldn’t have been able to attend a school further away due to the cost of living on campus. I know the same to be true for the students I teach. Families appreciate that PennWest is within driving distance from their home and affordability is definitely a factor.”

She added, “The administrators at PennWest want to believe that students will migrate to their Edinboro campus. But what I know is that distance is a barrier to education for the students from this area.”

If approved, the new academic program offerings will be available to students in the 2026 fall semester.

Classes for spring semester resume on Jan. 20, and students were not on campus to share reactions to the academic changes..

“Our commitment to PennWest students is to deliver the most accessible, affordable, and transformative experience possible, so that students graduate as confident, career-ready, and career-adaptable lifelong learners and leaders,” said Dr. James Fisher, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at PennWest. “This process of strengthening our academic programs and the student experience overall furthers that commitment to our students and our commitment to serve and strengthen communities in Western Pennsylvania and beyond.”

PennWest said programs were reviewed using several factors, including enrollment trends, student demand, and workforce needs.

University officials said the review of its programs included feedback from students (more than 1,300 participated in a survey), faculty, and staff.

“The primary motivation is to strengthen academic choice and to position PennWest to deliver programs aligned with today’s workforce needs,” said Kelly Repinski, Vice President for University Communications and Marketing via email.

The schools aren’t laying off any faculty at this time. However, more than a dozen employees at PennWest’s California and Clarion campuses were furloughed in the fall due to declining enrollment and other reasons.

This fall, enrollment at the 10 universities that make up the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) saw its first system-wide enrollment increase in more than a decade, with a 0.6% rise to over 83,000 students. In 2015, enrollment at PASSHE schools was more than 107,000.

PennWest’s enrollment decreased 2.6% from the last school year, but the campuses saw an 8% increase in online enrollment.

A final decision will be made during the spring semester.