KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Each of the four campuses in the University of Missouri system is evaluating its programs to determine if any should be merged or closed because they cost too much or attract too few students, said Elson Floyd, president of the university system.

Floyd told The Kansas City Star's editorial board Monday that each of the system's four campuses is conducting a "program viability audit." He said each campus has identified programs that may have to write improvement plans to become more cost-efficient, merge with another academic program or be closed.

The programs were chosen based on criteria such as the low number of degrees awarded or the high cost per student compared to similar programs at other research universities.

The University of Missouri system follows Central Missouri State University in considering closing programs to make up for multimillion-dollar losses in state support over the past two years.

In April 2002, Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg decided to eliminate 26 degrees and temporarily stop offering an additional six programs.