University of Regina no longer offers BA program for degree in linguistics

Students at the University of Regina can no longer start a bachelors degree or honours option in linguistics, with the school discontinuing the program that is a preferred pathway to obtaining a masters degree in speech language pathology.

The decision comes as the University of Saskatchewan works to open the province's first masters program in speech language pathology in 2026, a move designed to keep speech pathologists studying and working in Saskatchewan.

In June, the government announced $8.1 million for the speech language pathology masters program and an occupational therapy program at the University of Saskatchewan.

"The U of R has lost an opportunity to either support that or even build something like that in the first place," said Arok Wolvengrey, a professor of Algonquian languages and linguistics at First Nations University of Canada (FNUC), which had offered the linguistics program at the University of Regina.

Linguistics is the study and understanding of language and its structure. Graduates work in fields including speech pathology, translation, artificial intelligence, language revitalization and English as a second language (ESL). 

Wolvengrey, who has worked in linguistics at the University of Regina through FNUC for 31 years, says at one point its linguistics program was so strong that faculties across the country were modelling courses on its curriculum. 

However, he says the wider university stopped supporting linguistics while professors in other U of R faculties that offered linguistics classes retired and weren't replaced. 

It's been First Nations University carrying the entire thing- Arok Wolvengrey

"So the burden of the entire program has been on First Nations University for quite some time now and there has been very little in the way of active support through the entire university.

"It's been First Nations University carrying the entire thing."

The University of Regina did not provide a comment or respond to requests for an interview.

Last spring, students enrolled in the FNUC linguistics program were told the degree program was being discontinued and they would no longer be able to sign up to major in linguistics. 

However, Wolvengrey said, the FNUC will still offer an  "improved seven-course minor program in linguistics." 

Limited classes left

"I had all these classes planned out and for some of them not to work is really upsetting," said Hayley Van Woert, a fourth-year student majoring in psychology and minoring in linguistics at the University of Regina.

Van Woert, who plans to enter a speech language pathology masters program, says she was unable to register at the U of R for one of her classes that was a prerequisite to apply for speech pathology.

That meant she had to enrol in an online class through the University of Alberta, which carried an additional price tag of $500 for the entry fee as well as being more costly than the U of R, she says. 

Van Woert says she's also been restricted in electives to complete her minor in linguistics.

"It was a very small list," she said, "some of them I couldn't even use."

Jesse Stewart, a professor and linguistics department head at the University of Saskatchewan, says the elimination of a linguistics degree in Regina puts students who want to pursue their masters in speech language pathology at a disadvantage. 

"A lot of students are going to have to come to the U of S now because we're the only one offering linguistics," Stewart said. "When we don't offer linguistics there's no more conduit into programs like speech language pathology, so that's a major hurdle." 

Andrea Custer, a former assistant professor in Indigenous languages at FNUC, says the university decided to transition away from offering a degree in linguistics because it wasn't serving Indigenous people, a FNUC mandate.

In its place, FNUC will offer an Indigenous language reclamation program aimed at preserving and teaching Indigenous language.

"People will learn about their languages that are sleeping, and it'll be kind of focused on more of the academic work versus going into the speech language pathology."