With over 90 undergraduate majors and more than 120 graduate degree programs, Seton Hall offers a variety of academic disciplines for its students. However, some programs receive less attention than others, causing uncertainty about the security of these programs in the face of waning student interest or, in some cases, university suspension.
This uncertainty comes amid declining college enrollment across the country, with colleges and universities collectively experiencing a 15% decline in enrollment between 2010 and 2021 (the most recent year for which figures are available), due in large part to the rising costs of higher education. In fact, the average private school tuition was 3.9% higher (before adjusting for inflation) during the 2024-2025 school year than it was in 2023-2024.
There is also an increased focus on degree programs that are seen as more lucrative post-grad, like STEM degrees. And there is truth in this, as programs in engineering, computer science, and nursing consistently show the highest return on investment, with lifetime earnings premiums often exceeding $500,000. Meanwhile, the education and liberal arts fields show lower financial returns.
All of these factors play a part in some majors’ low enrollment, in accordance with national trends as well as trends that can be seen on SHU’s campus.
College of Human Development, Culture, and Media
Art History
Dr. Juergen Heinrichs, a tenured associate professor, said he is at the end of his rope. SHU’s art history program struggles to make ends meet with only five active majors and a fluctuating number of active minors, as of the fall 2024 semester, according to Dr. Heinrichs.
And the numbers continue to shift.
In fall 2021, one student was enrolled as an art history major and in fall 2022, there were none, according to SHU’s Office of Institutional Research’s fact book for 2022-23 data trends (the most recent numbers available).
The concern is that student interest is once again beginning to dissipate.
“There has been a trend in declining student interest,” Dr. Heinrichs said. “If the students don’t take [the courses] when we offer them, what’s left to do?”
Due to the lack of student engagement, Dr. Heinrichs has long been the sole professor in the art history department.
“I’ve been here for over 20 years,” Dr. Heinrichs said. “I’ve seen the program when they had more full-time faculty, but they’ve moved on or retired. And [now] it’s just me.”
This limited number of faculty has also limited the number of art history courses currently being offered.
“How am I supposed to ask for new positions with this? The hires are where there’s student interest,” Dr. Heinrichs said.
Before the start of the fall 2024 semester, the number of art history faculty members rose to two when Dr. M. Hayden was hired as a lecturer. She taught Art and Human Needs and Art of the Western World in the fall. In the future, she said she plans to teach a course on African American art, but a lack of enrollment could prevent this from happening.
Dr. Bryan Crable, founding dean of the College of Human Development, Culture, and Media (CHDCM), reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to increasing the number of faculty members within the program.
“We’re currently [searching] for a full-time faculty member to support our museum studies program, which is also someone who could support classes in art history,” Dean Crable said. “So, we’re building up the faculty to be able to offer the kinds of courses that our students need.”
For the fall 2024 semester, only three courses ran within the program with nine total sections. Art and Human Needs and Art of the Western World are both introductory courses, each running four sections. These classes count towards the core curriculum requirements for the Stillman School of Business, the College of Arts and Sciences, and CHDCM, which is why they are packed to the last seat.
Art, Identity, and Representation was the only upper-level course offered by the art history department in the fall. Only seven students were enrolled, Dr. Heinrichs said. Administration requires twelve students to be enrolled in a course for it to run.
“I am grateful to the administration because they are cognizant of our struggles and so they say, ‘No, it’s going to run,’” Dr. Heinrichs said. “But the threshold for a course to be economically feasible is twelve students.”
To try to alleviate art history’s struggles, Dr. Heinrichs developed a new course idea and surveyed the three classes he taught in the fall. He asked his students their thoughts and if they would be interested in a History of Photography course.
Students were interested but expressed their inability to enroll in the course due to the inflexibility of their majors, Dr. Heinrichs said.
“It would be easier to say that the students aren’t interested, but they are interested,” Dr. Heinrichs said. “But with their majors, they’re strung out. Everybody’s busy.”
With minimal courses being offered due to low enrollment numbers, a great risk is posed to those students who have enrolled at SHU as art history majors.
According to Dean Crable, the number of credits required to obtain a major in art history was lowered to 30. He explained that the reduced credit requirement is being applied retroactively to all current art history majors, as well as new students.
Dr. Heinrichs has attempted to increase the number of active majors and minors with advocacy and consistent conversation about the public misconceptions of the career and financial outcomes of an art history student.
“Part of the problem is that people, for whatever ill-informed reason, think it’s not worth doing,” Dr. Heinrichs said. “But in terms of evidence, there are good career outcomes.”
Former students of Dr. Heinrichs have gone on to work in museums and lead well-known exhibitions that serve as symbols of the issues in today’s world, he said. Others have applied what they’ve learned in his courses to differing fields such as medical imaging or corporate jobs.
“We, [the art history department], can connect with any major,” Dr. Heinrichs said. “We connect with medicine with medical imaging. We connect criminal justice with prison architecture and crime scene photography. We connect with psychology majors.”
Dr. Heinrichs encourages students at SHU to think of art history as “interesting, engaging, and fun.”
“When you do art history, it’s also about life. It’s about humans, who we are in this world,” Dr. Heinrichs said. “It’s a way of being in the world.”
Dean Crable echoed Dr. Heinrichs’ plea to students.
“Folks who are interested in art, there’s a home here in CHDCM,” he said.
Music
SHU’s music program has also faced hardship with enrollment numbers as of late.
In the fall of 2020, 11 students were enrolled as music majors, so the administration decided to suspend program enrollment, according to Catherine Zizik, chair of the Department of Communication, Media, and Arts. In fall 2021, nine students were enrolled, and in fall 2022, only seven, according to the fact book. The major was officially suspended in fall 2022.
“Currently, incoming students cannot major in music,” Prof. Zizik said. “All of our curricular decisions are based on industry trends and student growth opportunities.”
Dean Crable expanded upon this “curricular decision,” saying that there needs to be a balance in considering the need for options for students and the popularity of other college’s programs.
“We’re not in any way trying to get rid of the arts,” Dean Crable said. “But we’re trying to figure out what makes sense in terms of serving our students’ needs while also recognizing that we’re not going to be able to compete with programs that are conservatories or that are music-focused.”
Prof. Zizik added that the last cohort of the former music major will graduate this year and that the students have been on a “teach-out plan” to make sure their curriculum is met.
Dr. Jason Tramm, a tenured associate professor of music and director of choral activities, explained that the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for students to continue their musical education, as activities such as singing were seen as super-spreader events.
“It’s taken time for music to rebound from the effects of the pandemic,” Dr. Tramm said. “We’re seeing a strong music return.”
In light of this “rebound,” Dr. Dena Levine, a tenured associate professor of music, discussed a chance for music to make its comeback.
“Our newly revised minor in music has just landed in the catalog and is seeing interest across campus due to its flexible configuration of requirements,” Dr. Levine said.
The music department is now offering a two-track minor—music history or music performance—in the place of the former major.
“Minors provide more opportunities for students to get involved,” Prof. Zizik said. “Minors make more programs interdisciplinary.”
Prof. Zizik and Dr. Tramm shared that now, more students have been involved in music than ever before. There is a fair share of students signing up for the minor and an increase in students enrolled in music classes.
“Our music history classes this semester [in fall 2024] count over 100 enrolled students and our applied classes—musicianship, piano, sound production—count at around 30,” Dr. Levine said.
Students are actively enrolled in programs such as the university choir and orchestra as extracurricular activities and courses for credit alike. In the fall, the choir consisted of 35 students and an orchestra of 20.
The majority of those involved do so as an extracurricular activity. Dr. Tramm explained that they have the option of obtaining credit for their participation, but some students don’t have room in their schedules for that.
Therefore, although the music program at SHU is healthy, the number of students studying the art for credit has dwindled. With it, the number of faculty within the music department has decreased.
Dr. Tramm said he hopes more students will get involved with the new minors.
“The more minors we can bring in, the more the classes will fill,” Dr. Tramm said.
Dr. Tramm and Dr. Levine are now the only two professors in the music department. Together, they are working toward the comeback of the music major.
“We’ve put in the work to reinvigorate the major,” Dr. Tramm said. “We hope it will happen.”
College of Arts & Sciences
Latin American and Latino Studies
In the fall of 2020, only one student was enrolled as an active major in the Latin American and Latino Studies (LALS) program at SHU. By the fall of 2022, there were zero active majors, according to the fact book.
Sophomore Marlon Dobson is enrolled in the LALS program as a secondary major; his primary major is international relations and diplomacy. Dobson said he has experienced firsthand the struggle to keep the program alive on campus.
“[Students] don’t really see the exact imperativeness and the importance of these courses,” Dobson said.
He noted that most of his classmates admit that they have only enrolled in LALS courses to attain a diversity credit as required by the College of Arts and Sciences.
“There’s not a genuine interest in the studies of Latin America and the Latino community,” Dobson said.
Additionally, he encourages his fellow students to enroll in LALS courses as a means of both keeping the program alive and gathering worldly knowledge.
“I would definitely encourage [students] to take LALS classes because there’s so much to learn about other people beyond yourself,” Dobson said.
Dr. Benjamin Goldfrank of the School of Diplomacy and International Relations teaches three courses within the LALS program: Church, State, and Politics in Latin America, Politics and Society of Latin America and the Caribbean, and Political Economy of Latin America and the Caribbean. He said these classes are “close to full each semester.”
Dr. Goldfrank also said his classes are a mix of diplomacy majors, LALS scholars, and those just taking it to fill a requirement.
However, he said that the primary issue regarding enrollment in LALS courses lies in the lack of faculty within the program.
“[Seton Hall] has never had a Latino Studies or Latinx specialist,” Dr. Goldfrank said. “The university’s never hired a tenure-track Latino Studies professor.”
Currently, the program employs three LALS professors: Goldfrank, Felipe Lopez, and Kirsten Schultz.
Dr. Goldfrank said that the university should hire a tenure-track professor so that the professor can invest efforts into the program without worrying about the security of their job.
Asian Studies
The Asian Studies program is also experiencing a decline in enrollment. The program, as of last semester, consists of one active major, three secondary majors, and 11 minors, according to Dr. Dongdong Chen.
Dr. Chen provided insight into why she believes the program is experiencing a decrease in interest on campus.
“In my own opinion, I think the university may not have [an] interest in investing in such programs,” Dr. Chen said.
In 2018, a professor who had been working for SHU for 40 years retired. The position was left unfilled. In 2021, another professor left the university and that position was also left vacant.
“So now, in the Asian Studies program, we only have two and a half [faculty members],” Dr. Chen said. “One is me and the other is Dr. Shigeru Otsuka. We also have another faculty member who is affiliated with both history and Asian Studies, so she is counted as a half.”
Currently, Chinese and Japanese are the only two language courses offered within the Asian Studies program. Each language only has one professor, Dr. Chen said.
“I’m offering Chinese language courses,” Dr. Chen said, “and [Dr. Osaka] offers Japanese.”
Dr. Chen noted that these language courses experience moderate enrollment for introductory courses, but lower numbers in more advanced courses.
The Asian Studies program has taken steps to increase interest on campus. Dr. Chen explained that they have lowered the number of credits required to complete a degree in Asian Studies.
“A major requires 39 [credits],” Dr. Chen said. “So, we reduced three credits and now we only require 36 credits.”
Furthermore, students who take 18 credits of an Asian language course can declare an Asian Studies minor.
Dr. Chen said she is hopeful that adjustments within the program will attract an increase in student interest, but noted that “it is very sad to see the demise of this program.”
Anthropology
While the anthropology program at SHU maintains a stronger number of active majors compared to other dwindling campus programs, enrollment has steadily declined over the past few years. The fact book says that in the fall of 2018, there were 14 active majors. By fall 2022, there were only 10.
Helen Jakubowicz, a junior double majoring in history and anthropology at SHU, attributed this decline to a lack of emphasis on the humanities on campus.
“I think in this era of university and learning, there’s been a major push toward STEM,” Jakubowicz said. “Not that anthropology isn’t STEM, but it’s on the smaller side of that. There’s more emphasis on hard sciences and chemistry.”
Leo Chu, a junior double majoring in biology and anthropology, commented on the versatility of anthropology. He explained that he began his academic career at SHU intending to eventually attend medical school. As he began to take classes in biology, he said he realized that there was a lack of emphasis on cultural divisions in the medical sphere.
“All the medical expertise is concentrated on the majority population so maybe more affluent people, more racially whites,” Chu said. “There’s less research in general about female bodies. There’s less research on African American or Asian bodies, Native American bodies, etc.”
Chu added that with a dual degree in biology and anthropology, he feels he could work to bridge the gap between culture and medicine.
“I don’t have female organs. I don’t know what that’s like. I’m never going to have that experience,” Chu said. “But what anthropology has taught me is that even if I cannot understand that myself, I should be able to understand the cultural implications and how [they have] come to be.”
Jakubowicz also commented on the complementary nature of anthropology, encouraging students to enroll in the program as a double major or minor.
“I think it gives you a good, holistic view of humanity and different cultures without putting cultures in a box,” Jakubowicz said. “The whole point of anthropology is to be super open-minded.”
The dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Dr. Jonathan Farina, did not respond to requests for comment.
Declining program enrollment has impacted SHU across all schools. Lack of resources and lack of interest do not discriminate, as programs like the ones discussed here look to bounce back in the coming semesters.
Megan Pitt is a writer for The Setonian’s News section. She can be reached at megan.pitt@student.shu.edu.
