Why more and more colleges are closing down across the U.S.

[Anonymous]

Did I miss the list?

[Anonymous]

So what is the outlook for kids graduating in 2025 or beyond? Are admissions going to skyrocket at the state schools if small schools have to shut down?

TO has already led to the record number of college applications nationwide. The acceptance rate for many colleges has also declined.

I am curious what the future holds1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:90% of universities should close

They are pointless when you can learn most stuff via online or the public library if you are motivated enough

This. Used to be difficult to find information. Colleges have become venues for swilling beer and incurring debt. Time for big changes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of them appear to be slacs, and STEM degrees are a lot more popular then ever before.

SLACs also offer STEM degrees.

"Liberal arts education (from Latin liberalis "free" and ars "art or principled practice"), also known as the liberal arts and pure sciences, is the traditional academic course of study in Western higher education." --Wikipedia

they are weaker in most STEM fields like engineering and CS.

Caltech is not a liberal arts college. It has a graduate program.

https://www.cms.caltech.edu/academics/grad

Engineering, for the most part yes, but exceptions (e.g., Harvey Mudd, Smith, Bucknell). But for CS--if you look at overall ranking of colleges, sure--a small liberal arts college with 100 grads in CS is not going to be highly ranked, but they students--especially if you look at slightly longer time horizons, do very well in their careers and the major has a far higher retention rate (and fewer bars to admission in the major) in SLACs than universities.

sure, but we're talking about colleges that are closing because their colleges are losing people.

I thought you were talking about LACs. Anyway, the colleges that are closing are religious colleges and art schools. So not really any statement on LACs writ large either.

but I think the closures will expand to smaller slacs. There are some really small slacs on there. The well known prestigious ones will be fine, but the lesser known ones will start to shut down. They are already seeing enrollment declining. The drop off will speed up the closure of the lesser known slacs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of them appear to be slacs, and STEM degrees are a lot more popular then ever before.

SLACs also offer STEM degrees.

"Liberal arts education (from Latin liberalis "free" and ars "art or principled practice"), also known as the liberal arts and pure sciences, is the traditional academic course of study in Western higher education." --Wikipedia

The top places to study STEM do not include SLACs

Cal Tech is a SLAC.

Omg no it isn’t! It’s a private research institute

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question here:

What do you think will happen to the smaller public colleges in VA? There has been a decline in enrollment, which is happening across the board.

What is the number of students where it is no longer feasible to maintain a campus and full curriculum?

I have a kid at one of these schools and we are very happy with the program/campus. But, I am trying to be realistic and imagine what might happen since I don't see a big turn around in enrollment happening. What do you think the state of VA would do with these schools?

. Please read the article before posting such nonsense

[Anonymous]

I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

Thank you for your post. I am grateful for your insight.

I am curious though, if the admissions cliff in 2025 is true, and as previous posters have mentioned that the biggest drop off in graduating HS seniors are from the NE, Mid Atlantic and MW, what effect will that have on small colleges in these areas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

I don't think international students are interested in mediocre schools.

They come here for semi-prestigious to prestigious schools.

There's no demand for mediocre schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

Where did you get 'over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities'

Wiki says https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_in_the_United_States
There are 146 institutions that are classified as "R1: Doctoral Universities
There are 133 institutions that are classified as "R2: Doctoral Universities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

You claim to be in academia, and yet you say there are over "1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities" in the US? Complete BS. R 1 colleges are 146. R 2 colleges are 133. You must be a graduate of Judson College to drop a lie like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

I don't think international students are interested in mediocre schools.

They come here for semi-prestigious to prestigious schools.

There's no demand for mediocre schools.

There is absolutely demand for mediocre schools -- from mediocre international students. They're not all getting into the top 25, and there are plenty of middle class Chinese willing to pay for their kid to go to any school in the US as that's considered prestigious enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm in academia. It's alarmist. 91 have closed or merged since 2016. That's 13/year. Let's say about half merged, so it's 5-6 that close per year. They are schools you've never heard of, like Presentation College in South Dakota, Cazenovia College in New York, and Holy Names University in California (449 students).

Then there's Judson College that closed in 2021.. because the had only 12 students enroll that year (it's a Baptist women's college).

We're seeing 5-10 colleges close per year, and we have over 1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities, and if you add in community colleges you're at about 5,000.

Compared to 20 years ago, we see a lot more international students, especially from China. The demand remains.

You claim to be in academia, and yet you say there are over "1,000 R-1 and R-2 universities" in the US? Complete BS. R 1 colleges are 146. R 2 colleges are 133. You must be a graduate of Judson College to drop a lie like this.

Ok I was winging it and more pointing out there's 1,000+ big universities out there, but even looking at the research universtities, you need to add on the other campuses of a lot on those list, and you get close to 1,000. For example, UWisconsin has Madison and Milwaukee campuses but not Stevens Point or Whitewater.. but those are decent schools and will draw applicants just as well due to the UW name. A bunch of SUNY and CUNY campuses left off. Many Texas State campuses. In MD, no Frostburg nor Townson listed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did I miss the list?

There’s no list, but some identified in the video include The King’s College in NYC, Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, IA, Lincoln College in Lincoln, IL, Judson College in Marion, AL, Holy Names University in Oakland, CA, Brightwood College which appears to have been a for profit with multiple campuses, Grace University in Omaha, Wright College in Overland Park, KS, Presentation College in Aberdeen, SD and Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. Independent of the article I know of Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, NJ which was taken over by Montclair State, and Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, NY near Syracuse. There’s also Mills College in Oakland which is now part of Northeastern.

The video focused on Lincoln and King’s, which was interesting because the former had been around for 150 years and the latter had moved four times (including one location where my sister lives and one where my beach house is, weird) since its founding around 80 years ago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did I miss the list?

There’s no list, but some identified in the video include The King’s College in NYC, Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant, IA, Lincoln College in Lincoln, IL, Judson College in Marion, AL, Holy Names University in Oakland, CA, Brightwood College which appears to have been a for profit with multiple campuses, Grace University in Omaha, Wright College in Overland Park, KS, Presentation College in Aberdeen, SD and Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee. Independent of the article I know of Bloomfield College in Bloomfield, NJ which was taken over by Montclair State, and Cazenovia College in Cazenovia, NY near Syracuse. There’s also Mills College in Oakland which is now part of Northeastern.

The video focused on Lincoln and King’s, which was interesting because the former had been around for 150 years and the latter had moved four times (including one location where my sister lives and one where my beach house is, weird) since its founding around 80 years ago.

Me back again, the video cites this list with more:
https://www.highereddive.com/news/how-many-colleges-and-universities-have-closed-since-2016/539379/