I am writing to alert readers of The Physics Teacher to a growing national problem: the elimination of the physics major at undergraduate institutions and, ultimately, 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 five-year period or be terminated. Even stricter requirements (with a three-year time scale) began to be enforced in Louisiana.2 Similar measures are being implemented or are under consideration in Maine, Florida, Idaho, Missouri, and Tennessee. The AAPT Executive Office has recently responded to a threat to terminate the physics major at an institution in Iowa where five to 10 physics majors had graduated each year for many years.
According to a panel at the 2012 PhysTEC Conference, if the...
