Iowa State University proposed closing or merging 23 academic programs after a state-mandated review of low-enrollment offerings. The plan, presented through recommendations from deans and chairs to Provost Jason Keith, would eliminate 10 degree programs and consolidate another 13, with 15 additional programs receiving two-year extensions to assess workforce and student demand. The university’s review traces back to directives from the Iowa Board of Regents requiring the state’s public universities to evaluate alignment with workforce needs and enrollment thresholds. Those thresholds treat bachelor’s programs with 25 or fewer students—and graduate programs with 10 or fewer—as low-enrollment designations that should trigger program action. Among the degrees flagged for closure are bioinformatics and computational biology, environmental studies, interdisciplinary design, religious studies, and women’s and gender studies at the undergraduate level, along with graduate programs including accounting analytics, biophysics, energy systems engineering, interdisciplinary graduate studies, and toxicology. Once the Iowa Board of Regents approves, current students would be allowed to finish degrees, but the affected programs would stop admitting new students—potentially reshaping advising, pathways, and workforce-aligned credential planning statewide.