I attended an art school that is part of the UT System, and they removed my degree plan a year after I joined and started removing the classes required to graduate. They informed that I would be able to finish my degree even with the changes, but this wasn't true. Myself and other students in this major were told to take unrelated classes which would count as credit towards that major. Is this allowed?
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What is the "UT" system? University of Texas? Tennessee? Tahoe? Tallahassee? Is the degree program accredited? Is this a for-profit school, or state run?– Ron BeyerCommented Mar 25, 2019 at 0:55
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University of Texas at Dallas is the school. The school is accredited but I don't think the degree was. The school is state run.– confusedartstudentCommented Mar 25, 2019 at 1:31
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This question might be a better fit for Academia.– Michael SeifertCommented Mar 25, 2019 at 15:11
2 Answers
As an academic, I have seen a number of departments close and degrees discontinued and renamed. In every case I am aware of, these changes were slowly phased in/out. There is clearly a legal question about the liability of a university that chooses to discontinue a degree and not fulfill its obligation, but that is not what your university is doing (at least from what I can tell). You are earning an unaccredited degree meaning the exact courses are not prescribed by an outside governing body. The university has stopped offering courses you want to take, but is still allowing you to satisfy the degree requirements. No university promises to offer particular courses and further, they do not guarantee that students will even be able to take all the elective course they want to take.
So in answer to your question, if you were admitted to a degree program and the university stopped offering the degree, they might be liable and you might be able to get damages. Your university is not doing that.
You were probably sent an email with Terms and Conditions of your acceptance when you accepted the offer from your University. I would search for that email, or go to your university's website to search for official documents with academic regulations.
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From this page: "A degree plan is a definition of the course of study necessary to fulfill the requirement for graduation. A degree plan is "major specific" and is established through collaboration between the student and the academic advisor for the student's major. Course changes within university sanctioned degree plans may be made with the approval of the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education (ADU) or his or her designee." Commented Mar 25, 2019 at 2:46