It’s location is remote but also part of what the core SUNY mission used to be. Draw a straight line from SUNY Oswego to SUNY Empire state (near Saratoga Springs) and north of that line there is little population. Most of the region is the Adirondack Park. Where there are people in that region they are mostly along the shore of Lake Ontario clustered in small cities of 12-15K people. Oswego, Watertown, Massena, Potsdam. This is a very rural area and the schools are anchors so hopefully they figure out how to evolve and continue serving their communities. The strong privates in the region like Clarkson and St. Lawrence are also super critical to bring people to this region.
Fort Drum, the military base is also critical to the economy. It is the US cold weather training facility and home to the 10th Mountain Division.
Aah, the conundrum. How to run a higher education system (challenging enough) when stakeholders (rural residents) and constituents see the university system as part education/part economic development? When the question is not “can we better serve our citizens by merging campuses” but “what will happen to the town if those dollars and jobs disappear?”
If the hope was to offer public higher education to those who don’t live near densely populated areas, the reality is that it’s just not that easy to keep those schools open (or to offer every program). Unfortunately, what we see in my state is that young people who would have to go to school hours from home often don’t have the means to pay for life away from home … so they don’t get an education after high school, and their futures aren’t necessarily bright. This is the reality of how some college cutbacks and closures impact students.
So sad for SUNY Potsdam. I actually got accepted for their Math MA program but didn’t go because I wasn’t ready for master’s again. Surprised chemistry even made it to the list.
The cutting programs:
• Art history (BA)
• Arts management (BA)
• Biochemistry (MS)
• Chemistry (BA and BS)
• Dance (BA)
• French (BA)
• Music performance (MM)
• Philosophy (BA)
• Physics (BA)
• Public health (BS and MS)
• Spanish (BA)
• Theater (BA)
“After more than six decades of providing education of the heart inspired by Mother Cabrini and the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Cabrini University will graduate its final class in May 2024.
When it became clear that the financial challenges facing Cabrini University were insurmountable, we sought a strategic partner willing and able to honor our history, tradition, and legacy and to ensure our campus remains a vibrant center of catholic education. We found that fellowship in Villanova University.
One may say it is “just” music and arts education, but arts and music students do need and profit from performance and culture opportunities in the wider community. I suppose that is just not available in the area, which may lead to declining enrolment even in their areas of strength.
They sure gave students and staff a lot of notice, what, a whopping 9 days?
In an email distributed to Art Institutes students, the school system attributed the mass closure to a decade of operational issues.
“A culmination of events over the past decade, both external and internal to the campus operations, has forced the closure of this system of colleges,” the email said.
If they’ve been seeing this coming for a decade, couldn’t they have seen it a little over a month ago before the semester started and they got the fall tuition money from students? Ugh.
This is a travesty. It absolutely should never have happened. They had to know that closure was on the horizon before “now.” The worst part is that credits are probably not going to simply transfer to another school - and students missed the boat on transfers for the current semester.
Hmmmm … in reading the closure letter, it sure seems like the administration made its own plans even as they kept students in the dark.
Did they begin a new semester? Did they disburse student aid that now has to be repaid by the students to the federal government? It doesn’t sound like they plan to keep staff on to help students navigate the return of funds, which means that students will owe a federal overpayment (and won’t be able to get aid again until it’s repaid).
In all the other schools that have closed without allowing the students to transfer credits, the student loans have been forgiven. I don’t know what happens to maximum amounts for Pell grants (assume the student may max out before getting a degree).
What I’m referring to is different than closed school forgiveness (which will probably happen eventually for these students). If a student begins a semester but doesn’t finish, a return to title IV financial aid calculation must be performed in order to determine the percentage of aid the student has earned; the unearned portion has to be returned to the government. Loans have to be repaid according to the terms of the promissory note (unless forgiven), but Pell and SEOG must be repaid immediately to the Federal Government. Not doing so will tie up the ability to get further aid until repayment happens.
There is a school in my area that is currently being visited by representatives of the Department of Education. The ability for this school to continue operating in the future is being questioned. At the same time, after shutting down some campuses, they just opened a new location. The local news and politicians gave glowing reports on the same day that the site visit was being conducted. For me, it’s this kind of dichotomy that makes people suspicious of higher education (and no, this is not a for profit school).
Looks like Cox College was exclusively health profession programs (mostly nursing), and that it is moving the programs to Missouri State and Ozark Technical. Looks like current Cox students and those who start at Cox through spring 2025 will be able to complete their programs at Cox, Missouri State, or Ozark Technical, so this appears more similar to a merger or acquisition than an outright closure. The three schools are within walking distance of each other, so it is not like any Cox students moving to the other schools will have to relocate or commute significantly further even if the programs relocate to facilities at the other schools.
University of Wisconsin system closing two regional campuses one in washington county and the other at Fond du lac. That’s now 3 campuses closed as enrollment drops at the ex-community colleges that merged with the system
Yet another merger Notre Dame of Maryland University merging with Maryland University of Integrative Health. This is the second merger of a Roman Catholic university taking over a health focused school after St Joseph Unuversity in Philly two mergers with University of Sciences and PA college of health sciences