Rest in Peace: College Closings

More than 5,000 students! (Though mostly in online programs.) Unusual for a school that size to close, especially so suddenly.

Concordia University in Portland, Oregon was not even listed in US News’ Best Colleges.

Below is the link to the Inside Higher Ed article about the upcoming closure of Portland’s Concordia University – a Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod institution:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/02/11/lutheran-college-portland-will-close-after-spring-2020-semester

Notre Dame de Namur in California

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/future-of-belmont-s-ndnu-uncertain/article_d2c54980-5525-11ea-818d-5fb4f75a9b08.html

Not a closure, but a significant contraction if it goes through: The University of Alaska Anchorage has released its initial recommendations for program deletion, including a third of their graduate programs. Details at [the university’s page on the process](https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/office-of-academic-affairs/ay-20-expedited-program-review-status.cshtml).

There’s a good chance the governor of Alaska will be recalled, one of the reasons being his shocking spending cuts to schools, public safety, transportation, infrastructure, etc. I got my undergrad degree at UA Fairbanks, and while the university system, like any university system, can find fat to trim, these cuts are more than that. They’re cutting into the bones, muscles and organs of the university system.

MacMurray College, Jacksonville, Ill., will close at the end of the current spring semester (May 2020). See the following link to today’s Inside Higher Ed article:

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/03/27/macmurray-college-closing-end-semester?utm_source=ihe&utm_medium=editorial-site&utm_content=breakingnews

would be curious to know what MacMurry’s endowment was. I think a few schools close every year but we will see a increase in the next few years with what is happening with colleges sending kids home this semester an don idea if they will open next semester their dorms.

The college that have an agreement for MacMurry’s students. https://week.com/2020/03/27/macmurray-college-in-jacksonville-to-permanently-close-down-eureka-among-seven-colleges-to-sign-transfer-agreements-for-affected-students/

It’s good that other schools will make it easy for these students to transfer. But I’m not sure of the likely longevity of a number of the colleges on that list.

Nebraska Christian College - closing

https://www.wowt.com/content/news/Officials-say-Nebraska-Christian-College-closing-this-spring-569355411.html

San Fran Art Institute Closing

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/arts/design/san-francisco-art-institute-coronavirus.html

I fear that we’re going to have a wave of these the next few months…

Has MacMurray College in Illinois (one of the few schools with “tartan” as its school colors!) been mentioned on this thread yet?

https://www.mac.edu/closure

(Pasting that in, it occurs to me how desperately Macalester probably wishes they’d gotten that domain first.)

According to USNWR, $16.0 million. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/macmurray-college-1717

Honestly, right now if I were at a college with a <$50M endowment, I’d be actively looking into transfer options.

(ETA: And colleges with $100M aren’t safe if this drags on, I fear.)

Wow. Apparently, the chancellor is proposing closing both Northern Vermont University campuses (previously, Johnston State College and Lyndon State College) as well as one of the two Vermont Tech campuses. https://www.vpr.org/post/vermont-state-colleges-propose-closing-northern-vermont-university-randolph-campus

This is pending approval of the board, but the Chancellor says that there is “no plan B.” Also, the Vermont Tech campus to be closed is the main campus.

Vermont needs less colleges. Too many state college when your flagship university has a low percentage of instate students

Pennsylvania State system of higher education might close a few campuses

https://www.inquirer.com/education/spl/pennsylvania-coronavirus-state-system-financial-hit-100-million-20200415.html?outputType=amp

Vermont does have too many state schools. There just aren’t enough college going students from Vermont to keep all the various campuses open…around 7K students per year of HS, and around 60% go to college (but far fewer actually graduate).

If the number of OOS students choosing Univ of Vermont declines, even the flagship will have significant financial difficulties.

https://www.healthvermont.gov/health-statistics-vital-records/vital-records-population-data/vermont-population-estimates

https://education.vermont.gov/documents/data-postsecondary-enrollment-data