The decline of academic poultry science in the United States of America

Academic poultry science in the United States had its origins in the early part of the 20th century. It reached its peak with 45 active departments in the 1940's, but then started to decline significantly in the 1960's. Today, there are only 7 active departments. There have been a number of published theories as to why as the industry grew the academic programs disappeared. Declining student numbers and failure to address industry concerns are the primary theories. This paper addresses all of the available published work together to present the situation as it evolved and point to the potential outcome.