Over 70 Colleges in the US Have Closed or Merged Since 2020, Impacting 45,000+ Students
Many small colleges closed or merged in response to rising costs and declining enrollments.
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In 2024, nonprofit college closures skyrocketed to at least 16 institutions. These closures largely impacted small and private colleges reliant on tuition and with limited endowments. While some colleges were able to teach out their academic programs, others closed without warning, leaving students in disarray.
Financial pressures and falling enrollments were the most commonly cited factors, with increasing operating costs making matters worse.
Research by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, as shared by Inside Higher Ed, stated that this trend may continue to worsen in the future because of persistent enrollment pressures.
Now, religiously affiliated institutions and those in Pennsylvania were hit the hardest.
The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Notre Dame College closed their doors after fighting financial deficits and plummeting enrollments. Declines in enrollment were often drastic—Notre Dame experienced student numbers that dropped by more than half over a decade.
Why College Closures Happen
Other factors have also contributed to these closures, such as technical glitches in the rollout of Free Application for Federal Student Aid, not to mention even social issues like homelessness and crime in cities like Portland.
In some instances, there have been legal and fiscal factors at play.
Eastern Gateway Community College, which was shut down for violating a controversial "free college" program, is just a case in point. And Birmingham-Southern College as well as Union Institute & University, for their years of financial mismanagement and poor decision-making coupled with external pressures, became institutions that fell.
Some institutions that are very known for their unique academics, like Goddard College and Wells College, just could not survive the hardship.
Goddard had peaked with more than 1,900 students in the 1970s, but at its closing had only 220 students.Wells College closed down immediately after it turned to coeducation in 2005 and experienced severe shrinkage of its students.
While closures were the more sensational of the two, some institutions actually opted for mergers and strategic partnerships as a means to survive, per Research.com. Such arrangements permitted smaller colleges to continue operating under the umbrella of more stable institutions, avoiding closure outright. However, these type of partnerships blurred the lines between collaboration and acquisition, though, making long-term sustainability uncertain.
It leaves the institutions more critical to adapt themselves to more changes in demographics and financial corridors. As such pressures mounted, colleges had to find innovative ways to stay relevant and sustainable.
