Re Hampshire:
A Small New England College Struggles to Survive https://nyti.ms/2SfqVLs
I work in higher ed in MA and I saw a chart the other day published by our Department of Higher Education and yikes, the cliff at about 2025 is super scary! I think it is prudent for any college-going family to dig deep into learning about prospective college endowments. In my book, anything under $100m should be looked at closely. There are just so many small LACs in NE and unfortunately, a good number of them will not be able to make it in the coming years unless they make drastic changes now.
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https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr67/nvsr67_08-508.pdf table 2 on page 3 shows birth numbers in the US by year. Note the drop starting 2008. That drop will affect colleges when those kids reach the age when traditional college students start college in 2026 or 2027.
@oldmom4898 ““Plenty of alumni have put Hampshire in their wills, but because the oldest of them are only 66 or 67 years old, they haven’t started dying yet. That’s problematic in the short term, but not in the long term.””
Hmmmm I think that they could have worded this better. 
U of Farmington isn’t the first fake college to close down:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plainfield_Teacher%27s_College
For the record, here’s the Inside Higher Ed article about Hampshire College’s decision NOT to enroll a freshman class this coming fall 2019, other than reolling early-decision and previously-accepted gap-year admits:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/02/02/hampshire-college-wont-admit-additional-students
It’s a sad commentary on the counterculture youth of America that even a yurt isn’t enough to get them to enroll at Hampshire.
Green Mountain College (Vt) alums are attempting a Sweet Briar-like push to save GMC from its announced closing. See the following link to read the Times Union (Albany, NY) newspaper article:
Oregon College of Art and Craft will close at the end of the current semester. See the following link to the 2-8-19 Inside Higher Ed article:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/02/08/small-oregon-art-college-will-close
So I’m wondering: What’s the largest endowment of a college that’s announced a closure (whether it ultimately closed or not)? Is Sweet Briar (with $84M at the time) the record holder?
The following link is to today’s (2/15/19) Inside Higher Ed article and analysis about alumni attempting to save both Hampshire College (Mass.) and Green Mountain College (Vt) from closing:
I hope they are successful at raising the money and preserving Hampshire’s unique education - but, alas, too late for us!
The sad thing for OCAC students is that they aren’t teaching out.
The closing of one private college often does not help neighboring (or competing) colleges grow their own enrollments, according to the following Inside Higher Ed article:
Hampshire College slates April 2019 layoffs for 19 staff in its admissions and advancement offices, according to the following Inside Higher Ed article:
https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2019/02/20/hampshire-announces-layoffs
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9, not 19. But still, cutting in advancement and admissions? That’s eating your seed corn.
College of New Rochelle
New Rochelle is the largest university to close with 3000 students which is shocking… just tells you that with a small endowment any financial mistake or mismanagement can Force a college to close
The College of New Rochelle has a campus in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, just down the block from where I live. It’s a gentrifying but mostly working-class neighborhood and I am not optimistic for their students here. Many sad stories in the past of young people duped by for-profit schools.
I thought CNR is non-for-profit?
CNR’s lack of financial strength has been known for several years, and more recently has additional financial risk from the lawsuit by fired (due to reorg) tenured faculty. I feel for the students of course, and hope their credits transfer. I do wonder at what point it does become irresponsible for schools to continue to enroll students.
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/investigations/2017/04/19/cnr-financial-statements/100644996/