Public colleges are realigning their course offerings to an emerging tech-based job market that no longer requires four-year degrees for many careers.

Government officials in charge of state university systems who attended a higher education conference in the District of Columbia this week said it’s part of a “rightsizing” trend as institutions downsize to serve dwindling numbers of students and a fast-changing employment landscape.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Gregory Schuckman, a federal lobbyist for California State University, said during a break between sessions at the Capital Hilton.

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Mr. Schuckman was among hundreds of officials at the annual conference of the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association, a network of agencies overseeing the nation’s public colleges.

The conference comes as a growing number of state campuses have merged over the past year, citing revenue and enrollment declines and rising operating costs.

Others have announced sweeping program and staff cuts targeting pricey, low-enrollment humanities programs that potential students associate with low-paying careers.

This month, public Frostburg State University in Maryland announced it would eliminate 30 faculty positions and 15 staff by next year to surmount a $7.7 million deficit.

During a Tuesday panel discussion of efforts to protect students from overpaying at “low-quality, high-cost institutions,” Massachusetts and New Jersey officials touted policies to realign struggling schools to an evolving job market.

Noe Ortega, Massachusetts’ higher education commissioner, said the state has merged or closed 20 colleges since passing a 2019 law.

The statute requires failing private and state-run institutions to post a public notice if they don’t have the resources to stay open the next 18 months.

“They are the ones serving our historically underrepresented communities,” Mr. Ortega said, noting the need for transparency with low-income and minority students.

Brian Bridges, New Jersey’s secretary for higher education, praised a law that lets state regulators revoke the credentials of career-oriented programs that saddle graduates with more federal student loan debt than they can pay off with their earnings.

Signed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy in 2022, the law defines career-oriented training programs as those leading to one or two professions.

“Nothing moves a state to action faster than a crisis,” Mr. Bridges said. He pointed out that many graduates struggle to pay six-figure debt with working-class salaries.

Cal State’s Mr. Schuckman said the definition of “career oriented” should be expanded. He said California doesn’t have a similar law.

“Even a social work or engineering degree can lead to several jobs, including in business and education,” he said.

Higher education has struggled for over a decade with four-year enrollment declines driven by plunging birth rates, rising costs and the popularity of trade programs as more young people question the value of a college degree.

Insiders say these trends have accelerated since the pandemic, as financially strapped families emerging from lockdowns have been more hesitant to finance degrees.

In May, Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce reported that colleges in half the nation’s labor markets must reduce baccalaureate preparation in humanities and general studies to refocus on vocational training.

The report noted that nearly a third of annual job openings through 2031 will require some credentialing or coursework but not a degree.

Meanwhile, a tight labor market has driven many employers to eliminate degree requirements for office and management jobs that traditionally drew liberal arts graduates.

Attendees at the SHEEO conference emphasized the need to make public college programs more affordable, career-focused and faster to complete.

Panelist Kyle Southern, an associate vice president at the nonprofit Institute for College Access & Success, blamed “low-cost, high-debt” programs for driving a nationwide student debt crisis.

Analysts say rising costs have squeezed pipelines of community college transfer students and low-income, rural, first-generation and minority applicants at rural public universities and small liberal arts colleges.

Jacob Fraire, president of the Educational Credit Management Corp. Foundation, drew attention to a growing need to support such students. His nonprofit group works to overcome historically low college completion rates in these demographics.

“We have perhaps the most diverse student population in history,” Mr. Fraire said in a keynote address. “Yet we have fallen short of helping those we have invited in.”