Texas A&M System proposes cutting over 200 general-education courses
Regents of the Texas A&M University System will vote on a plan to drop more than 200 classes from core curricula, including courses on LGBTQ literature, climate change and women’s studies.
In accordance with Senate Bill 37, Texas A&M System regents are set to decide on a sweeping revision of general-education requirements that would eliminate more than 200 courses from the core curriculum of 11 campuses. The agenda lists 360 removal entries, many duplicated across departments, with Texas A&M-College Station proposing to drop 103 courses, including introductions to women’s and gender studies, LGBTQ literature, Latinx literature, climate change and race and ethnicity.
Smaller campuses such as Texas A&M-San Antonio, Tarleton State and West Texas A&M have comparable removal counts. System officials say each university performed its own course-by-course review and that the changes only affect core-curriculum credit, not the ability to teach the subjects as electives. Leonard Bright, president of the local A.A.U.P. chapter, condemned the effort as a politically motivated “whitewashing” of the curriculum.
The review also includes a handful of additions, such as human nutrition and professional ethics, at several campuses. The decision comes amid broader state-wide debates over core-curriculum standards and a recent policy barring advocacy of “race or gender ideology” in academic courses.
Why it matters
The cuts could reshape the educational foundation for thousands of Texas students and signal broader ideological shifts in public higher education.
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