STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Wagner College is continuing its efforts to enhance academic excellence and better serve students, building on earlier plans to invest in new programs while phasing out others.

In March, the Grymes Hill college’s president, Dr. Jeffrey A. Doggett, made the decision to propose decommissioning some low-enrollment programs and instead focus on expanding core programs and creating new ones.

“We’re going to evolve over time and grow more unique programs,” said Doggett in March.

This proposal to decommission programs was approved, which means several programs will no longer be available after the spring 2026 semester has concluded.

Here is a list of decommissioned programs:

Anthropology (and all minors/tracks)Certificate in LeadershipDance EducationEnglish (and all minors/tracks)Environmental Studies (and all minors/tracks)Government and Politics (and all minors/tracks)History (and all minors/tracks, including American Studies)MathematicsModern Languages (majors and minors)MusicMusic Education PreK -12Philosophy and Religious Studies (and all minors/tracks)Physical Sciences (chemistry and physics)Sociology (and all minors/tracks)Visual Arts

In regard to new programs, faculty have approved majors in digital design and human services, which will have three tracks: criminology, pre-law, and social work. The college continues to work on approving a new major in business analytics.

Any new major proposed by the school requires state approval before students can be admitted into a program, a college spokesperson explained.

Once all three new programs are approved, the majors could be implemented by the fall 2026 semester.

These changes mark the first step toward stabilizing enrollment at Wagner College.

After the announcement of the restructuring, enrollment has held steady at the college. The total enrollment was 1,997 at the start of the fall 2025 semester — just four students less than the start of the fall 2024 semester, according to a Wagner College spokesperson.

Going forward, Wagner College will invest in key programs, including:

NursingPhysician AssistantPsychology (all concentrations)Business, including:AccountingBusiness AdministrationEconomicsFinanceManagementMarketingSports ManagementTheatreEducationBiological Sciences, including:Health SciencesBiopsychologyGeneral BiologyMicrobiology & ImmunologyMolecular & Cellular BiochemistryNeuroscienceArts AdministrationComputer Science/Information Systems

According to a college spokesperson, students will continue to be required to take core curriculum classes in topics like writing, ethics, math, science, art, and more.

Doggett said in March he has other plans to reinvent the college, like expanding classroom sizes through repurposing and restructuring existing campus spaces, and re-establishing relationships and partnerships with businesses in the community, like hospitals.

The program cuts and reinvention plans at Wagner come a year after St. John’s University closed its Staten Island campus at the conclusion of the spring 2024 semester, following a 50-plus year run on the borough.

Now, Wagner College stands as the only private institution of higher education in the borough, and more than half its students are residents of Staten Island who commute.

The school was founded in 1883 as a Lutheran seminary prep school in Rochester, New York. It relocated to Staten Island at the end of World War I, and later moved to its current 105-acre campus on Grymes Hill in 1918.