Collin College will shut down four programs due to low demand.

What happened

During its May 28 meeting, Collin College’s board of trustees unanimously approved the closure of the following programs:“The number of graduates and the number of students that have demonstrated interest in enrolling in course sections in these programs are extraordinarily low,” said Jon Hardesty, Collin College vice president of academic affairs.

Hardesty said no faculty members have been laid off as a result of the program closures.

Dig deeper


All four programs set for closure were launched in the last six years.

The activity care professional program, meant to train students as activity care specialists in assisted living facilities, launched in fall 2020 and has had nine students earn certificates, with zero earning degrees.

The Construction Technology-Carpentry program launched in fall 2021, and has awarded one degree and seven certificates, though Hardesty said one student is responsible for the degree and three of the certificates.

The program has three unique courses—wall systems, floor systems, and foundations and forms. All three classes had 13-16 students last fall, but none had more than six in the spring.


“A number of students were just looking to pick up those skills to work in the backyard or the garage and had no intention of coming back,” Hardesty said.

Construction technology-facility management launched in fall 2020 and aimed to prepare students for entry-level positions in facility maintenance. Hardesty said this program has had “zero interest” since it launched, and none of the three unique courses have ever been able to successfully run.

Metal arts focused on welding as a medium to make metal sculptures and launched in 2018. Of the program’s five unique courses, only three have successfully run, each with seven students or fewer, Hardesty said. He added that zero students have completed the program.

What else


Since 2018, Collin College has launched 25 new workforce programs, and “the vast majority are doing well,” according to the agenda item.

“All other programs that have started around the same time have grown,” said Abe Johnson, senior vice president of campus operations.

The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board can label programs with fewer than 25 degrees and certifications awarded over a five-year span as “low-producing programs,” and recommend closure. Hardesty said new programs have five years before they start being reviewed but added these four programs would struggle to meet the enrollment threshold before they started being reviewed.

“In order to reach that 25 number, we would have to see an explosion in enrollment to try and avoid those challenges in the future,” he said.


What’s next

All four programs will have a teach-out period, during which time college staff will reach out to students who have expressed interest to plan final course offerings, if desired, Hardesty said.

He added that, going forward, academic deans will review program enrollment after each school year to set up a plan to help drive performance on programs in danger of sunsetting.

Collin College President Neil Matkin added the school’s technical campus in Allen was built with flexibility in mind.


“The data collected showed high demand for these skillsets,” he said. “When we developed the technical campus, one of the criteria was that the entire building could be redeveloped on the fly. We knew we would be changing as needs changed.”