The University of Maine System's board of trustees has approved a plan to eliminate two programs at the University of Southern Maine at a contentious meeting Friday.
The board voted 9 to 2 to cut the campus's bachelor of arts in French program and its master's program in Applied Medical Science.
In a statement, UMaine System spokesman Dan Demeritt says the Applied Medical Science program graduated fewer than five students on average over the past five years, at a cost of nearly $1 million a year.
He says the bachelor's program in French also graduated fewer than five students a year over the past five years, and operated at an average annual deficit between faculty costs and tuition revenue of more than $25,000.
Demeritt says USM will work with majors in the programs to help them complete their course work.
The cuts were implemented to help close a projected $16 million budget shortfall in fiscal year 2016, Demeritt says.
