The University of North Texas announced plans to eliminate or merge more than 70 academic programs — spanning certificates to master’s degrees — to close a $45 million budget gap, administrators said. Officials said the decisions were based on enrollment, program cost, and alignment with institutional priorities and noted larger-than-expected losses in international graduate enrollment and reductions in state appropriations. UNT will merge its linguistics department with world languages and phase out degrees offered by the linguistics department; affected students can complete current programs but new enrollments will be barred. University leaders did not immediately confirm whether faculty layoffs will follow, but signaled that program-level changes are central to a broader cost-cutting plan. The move highlights how enrollment declines and state funding cuts are driving program rationalization across public universities — raising governance questions about academic portfolio management, faculty workload, and the downstream effects on regional workforce pipelines.