The Sad Decline of Sonoma State
A $23.9 million budget deficit leads to drastic cuts in staff and programs
It’s hard to comprehend where Sonoma State is right now, and what its future holds, after a stunning announcement this week of a drastic budget reduction that will eliminate many academic programs and departments as well as all NCAA athletics. Students and faculty were notified of the budget reduction in an email by Interim President Dr. Emily F. Cutrer. She said the primary reason for the deficit was declining enrollment, a drop of 38% since its peak in 2015.
The chart below from Cal State University system data shows an accelerating decline from 9,201 students in 2018 to 5,784 in 2024.
In her January 22 message, Interim President Dr. Emily F. Cutrer called the cuts “sobering news.” Cutrer wrote: “Our projected budget deficit has increased. We now estimate the deficit to be $23.9 million, a figure significantly larger than the $21 million projected last fall.”
She announced a reduction of $8 million in instructional programs, laying off “approximately 46 university faculty—both tenured and adjunct.” Lecturers, management positions and some staff will also be laid off. “Additionally, several academic departments and programs will be combined, downsized, and/or eliminated.”
The list of departments and programs that will be cut is shockingly long and diverse, which makes it difficult to see any overall plan.
Major degree programs identified for elimination: Administrative Services Credential in Education Leadership; Applied Statistics BA; Art History BA; Art Studio BFA; Dance BA; Earth and Environmental Sciences BA; Economics BA; Education Leadership MA; English MA; French BA; Geology BS; Global Studies BA; History MA; Interdisciplinary Studies BA and BS; Interdisciplinary Studies MA and MS; Philosophy BA; Physical Science BA; Physics BA; Physics BS; Public Administration MPA; Theatre Arts BA; Women’s and Gender Studies BA.
Extended education programs identified for elimination: Executive MBA; Film Studies MA; Organization Development MA; Spanish MA
Minors identified for elimination: Art History, Economics, French, Geology, German Cultural Studies, Global Studies, Interdisciplinary Studies, Museum and Gallery Studies, Paleontology, Philosophy, Queer Studies, Theatre Arts, Women’s and Gender Studies
Departments identified for closure: Art History; Economics; Geology; Philosophy; Theater/Dance; Women’s and Gender Studies.
Source: 2025-2026 Budget Reduction Plan
Interim President Cutrer also announced the elimination of all NCAA Division II athletics, saving $3.7 million.
Sonoma State’s mission professes a “commitment to the liberal arts and sciences,” but now it’s hard to see what these severe cuts do to that commitment. A father of a current SSU student told me that both of his son’s majors, Philosophy and Physics, were eliminated this week. The son doesn’t know what he’s going to do.
Students shared their reactions on the student bulletin board, Fizz, as reported in the Sonoma State Star, the student newspaper. Some said they were already preparing to transfer.
The Sonoma State Star also pointed out the reaction on Instagram of the CFA representing faculty:
“Management at Sonoma State has given up on finding solutions that don’t hurt students, and is instead intent[ionally] tearing down the university. A decision we will fight. Their plan to layoff faculty, close six departments, and consolidate even more is both shortsighted and harmful.”
The impact of eliminating so many programs and teachers could put Sonoma State in a death spiral as fewer students stay to finish their degree and even fewer new students enroll in the future.
Many who live in and around Sebastopol have been students or teachers at Sonoma State. Please share in the comments what you think about the news of severe budget cuts and what they mean for the future of Sonoma State. Can the decline be reversed or not?
As an SSU alumni from a program slated for closure (MA in Organization Development), I met the news of SSU’s retreat with a mix of sadness and resignation. SSU feels to me a bit like our local coho salmon, its habitat having been slowly destroyed over decades. This is clearly a tough time for higher education. There are simply fewer college-age students to go round and many of those question the value of a college degree. Sonoma State was at its heart a liberal arts school, as interested in teaching how to think as much as how to do. To be excited about programs at SSU like its interdisciplinary studies Bacherlor’s and Master’s you have to believe that taking a wider view the purpose and value of education is meaningful. But the liberal artist walks a lonely path in a society that worships (and hires) narrow expertise. No question much of what happened at SSU had to do with the quality of leadership and management at the school. It would have taken Herculean efforts to grow a small university in the CSU system through the challenges of the last decade. I am hopeful, not that a figurative Hercules will save SSU, but that on the other side of our current paroxysm of narrow-mindedness places like SSU can be reimagined to grow citizen scientists, artists, and human beings once again.
Remember back in the days when a California state university education was affordable? In my opinion, the root of this, like so many of the problems our country is facing, is the imbalance of wealth and the continuing whittling down of the taxes the wealthy pay that at one time helped to support our school systems. There are too many people with degrees and college debt that can’t find a job.