Nursing enrollment at the Polytechnic and West campuses will be cut in half because of an anticipated slump in state funding, ASU officials said Wednesday.
Vice President of Public Affairs Virgil Renzulli said the Polytechnic school will cut 40 of 80 spots this spring.
West campus will also cut enrollment in half in the fall 2009 semester.
The cuts will apply to incoming students looking to enter the program. Students already enrolled will not be affected.
Renzulli said the state has already retracted $30 million it earlier allocated to ASU’s budget. Now the University is bracing itself for another expected $24 million cut, he said.
ASU relies on about 25 percent of its funding from the state.
Because of extensive hands-on and lab work, nursing is one of the more expensive programs at ASU, Renzulli said.
“The [programs] don’t want to compromise academic quality by taking more students than they can handle,” he said.
There is no room to shift students to the Downtown Phoenix nursing school, he said.
Enrollment there will not be cut.
ASU currently has 1,800 nursing students, the most in the nation, Renzulli said.
Even after the 80 total students are cut, ASU’s nursing program will remain the nation’s largest.
Renzulli said the University hopes these nursing reductions will be temporary. Either way, all ASU programs are forced to make changes now before it is too late to help the budget, he said.
Reach the reporter at tessa.muggeridge@asu.edu.
