Professors, faculty, and staff of colleges/universities that closed, what signs did you see before the announcement?

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Colleges/Universities have been closing doors little by little over the years and more so post 2020, just wanted to know if you guys knew it was coming?

I think I read some posts that said they had no idea, and others who said they had a feeling.

Also, do you think what Trump is doing to the Dept. of Edu and canceling grants will have an impact on small liberal arts colleges (not like Smith, Williams, but smaller) and rural universities?

Comments

  1. jcatl0 Avatar

    I never worked at one, but have friends at one that closed. Everyone knew they were in trouble but were shocked by how quickly closure came. It went really fast from “if we don’t turn this around there will be trouble” to “this is the last year.”

    As for signs, two key things to look at is the percentage of revenue that comes from tuition and the percentage of revenue that comes from the endowment. Schools that rely too much on tuition can go very quickly. 

    If your school gets to 50%+ of revenue from tuition, any bump in the road can be the end, Trump or not.

  2. SnooGuavas9782 Avatar

    Been following the closures in NY and know folks that have worked at some of them. Under 1000 undergrads, high debt, low endowment, tiny/no grad programs, tons of deferred maintenence/everything falling apart are the key indicators.