442 of the Nation's 1,700 Private Nonprofit Universities Are at Risk of Closing

IBL News | New York

A forecast by Huron Consulting Group projects that 442 of the nation’s 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year colleges and universities (25% of the sector), with a combined enrollment of 670,000 students, are at risk of closing or merging within the next 10 years. More than 120 institutions are at the very highest risk.

For its assessment, the consultancy company analyzed enrollment trends, tuition revenue, assets, debt, cash on hand, and other measures.

The crisis is driven by declining enrollment, financial deficits, and pandemic-era pressures. Smaller, tuition-dependent institutions in the Northeast and Midwest are most vulnerable.

Colleges Closing or Announcing Closures (2025-2026)
• Siena Heights University (MI): Closing after the 2025–2026 academic year.
• Lourdes University (OH): Announced closure.
• Fontbonne University (MO): Closing after summer 2025.
• Limestone University (SC): Closing after Spring 2025.
• St. Andrews University (NC): Ceased operations in May 2025.
• Sterling College (VT): Closing after spring 2025.
• Eastern Nazarene College (MA): Closing by the end of 2025.
• Queens University of Charlotte (NC): Cited in 2026, though status varies.

Schools Facing Financial Peril
• Anna Maria College (MA): Flagged for closure risk.
• Portland State University (OR): Experiencing high restructuring risk and debt.
• Southern Oregon University (OR): Addressing significant fiscal issues.
• Wells College (NY) and Northland College (WI): Cited among recent closures or high-risk institutions.

Factors Influencing Risk

Small, private, non-profit schools with declining enrollment (e.g., falling below 1,000 students) and small endowments are at the highest risk. A “perfect storm” of low enrollment, high debt (e.g., $30M debt at Limestone), and rising operating costs is causing institutions to fold, even after attempting cost-cutting measures.

There are about 3,700 two- and four-year public and private degree-granting colleges and universities in the United States. That’s already down from a peak of 4,726 in 2012. Almost all that have closed since then were private, for-profit schools, which enjoyed a brief boom before crashing under the weight of consumer discontent and increased regulation.

There are already 2.3 million fewer students than there were in 2010. A drop in the birthrate that began around the same time means there is about to be a further downward slide in the number of 18-year-olds through at least 2041.

The proportion of high school graduates who go on to college is also down, from 70% in 2016 to 61% in 2023, the most recent year for which the figure is available.

The number of visas issued to new full-tuition-paying international students entering the United States plummeted by nearly 100,000 this year, a 36% decline.

Looming caps on federal loans for graduate study, which take effect in July, threaten to reduce demand for yet another crucial revenue source.

Community colleges, too — which enroll nearly 5.6 million students — are suffering financial squeezes that leave them less able to adapt or respond to change.