I am writing to alert American Journal of Physics (AJP) readers to a growing national problem: the elimination of the physics major at undergraduate institutions and, ultimately, the possible closure of physics departments. In 2011, the state of Texas invoked a statute that had been on the books for years but rarely used1 requiring degree programs at post-secondary public institutions to produce an average of five graduates per year over a 5-yr period or be terminated. Even stricter requirements (with a 3-yr time scale) are now being enforced in Louisiana,2 and similar measures are being implemented or are under consideration in Maine, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, and Tennessee. Also, the Executive Office of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) recently responded to a threat to terminate the physics degree program at an institution in Iowa where 5–10 physics majors had graduated each year for many years.
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