Arizona Merges Fine Arts Into Already Huge New College

Much like the Arizona State system, the University of Arizona is trimming its budget. Arizona likely will merge the College of Fine Arts into the newly combined Colleges of Letters, Arts, and Sciences (formerly four separate colleges, until restructuring plans were announced in December) and eliminate several College of Education degrees.

With the addition of the fifth school, the Colleges of Letters, Arts and Sciences will now house more than half of the undergraduate students at the University of Arizona. Officials estimate the entire consolidation process will save the university about $2 million, which will barely put a dent in the $76 million in state cuts the school faces.

Meanwhile, the education school has proposed to cut two bachelor's degrees—secondary education and physical education. Future secondary education students will be rerouted into a similar master's degree program while current students will be able to continue their degree as planned.

The physical education degree is being cut entirely because of lack of demand. "We found that after researching local schools and statistics, there was not a real critical need for physical education teachers at this time," an education professor told the Daily Wildcat..