You may have seen a lot of news in the past few years about closed colleges. It’s true; many colleges have shut down in the past decade, and some sources estimate that roughly one college closes down each week. Which colleges have closed, and why? And should you be concerned about the school you’re interested in or attending closing?
Read this guide to learn which colleges have closed down since 2015, what happens when a college closes, and why there have been more closed colleges in recent years.
What Does It Mean for a College to Close?
When a college closes, it ceases to exist: it doesn’t enroll students, classes shut down, it doesn’t award degrees, etc. There are two main scenarios that occur when a college closes: it either completely shuts down and fully ceases to exist with the campus basically becoming empty, or it merges with another college that is typically larger and has more funding. When a college joins another one, it still often shuts down certain programs and buildings and has a significant reduction in faculty and staff, but parts of the school are able to continue running under the new school’s name.
For students at a college that announces that it’s closing, the biggest concern is often what will happen to the academic credits they’ve earned. Many colleges that close try to arrange agreements with other schools nearby where students can easily transfer their credits. This allows them to continue college without significant setbacks. However this isn’t always the case, and some studies show that over 50% of students simply drop out of college when their school closes. Even when the transfer process works well, the period after your college closes is often stressful and requires a lot of planning.
Fortunately, it’s rare for colleges to simply shutter their doors one day. Most of the time, schools make the announcement that they’re closing, then they have a final semester or two before actually shutting down. This gives students more time to make a smart decision on if and where they want to transfer. Colleges that have closed abruptly are often for-profit schools, but non-profit schools can also close without warning. For example, Burlington College, a private non-profit college in Vermont, gave students less than two weeks’ notice when it announced it was closing in 2016.
However, scenarios like this are still the exception, and even when schools close with little warning, there are often warning signs months and years beforehand, such as issues with accreditation, financial troubles, shuttered buildings, and dropped academic programs.
Why Do Colleges Close? Why Are More Colleges Closing Over the Past Few Years?
Dozens of colleges have closed down in the past decade. Colleges can close down for complicated and nuanced reasons, but the majority of colleges that have closed in the past 5 years have shut down due to one or more of the four causes below. For each, we explain why it’s causing school closures and how it’s contributed to the recent uptick in closed colleges
Financial Difficulties
In recent years, the most common reason for colleges to close is because of financial difficulties. It takes a lot of money to run a college: salaries, facilities, technology, and student services all require money. Sometimes, a school is simply unable to cover its bills. This can happen for many reasons, such as poor management, less funding from donors, and reduced state or federal support.
Oftentimes, the college will first try cost-saving measures, such as cutting less popular academic programs, laying off staff, and reducing amenities, but sometimes that isn’t enough. It can also get the school into a vicious cycle where students become frustrated with the changes and/or potential future students don’t see the school as an appealing place to attend. This causes enrollment to drop, which further reduces the amount of money coming in, which puts even more financial strain on the school…
Decline in Enrollment
Many of the colleges that closed in recent years have had very low enrollment, often less than 1,000 students. For example, Goddard College had only 220 students when it closed, Presentation College had less than 600 students, and Mountain State College in West Virginia had just 20 students.
When fewer students enroll in a college, that school receives less tuition revenue, which is often a significant part of its budget. This can make it harder for the school to offer majors and amenities that would entice more students to apply, creating a negative feedback loop that turns away potential future students. Very small campuses can also struggle to create vibrant communities, with lots of clubs, activities, and people to meet, and this can further deter students from attending.
College enrollment as a whole has been declining for years. As of 2024, college enrollment is down 8.5% from 2010. Many factors have contributed to recent declining enrollment: increased tuition prices, decreased interest in the types of degrees a school offers, demographic changes (the national birth rate has been declining since 2007), decreased immigration, and increased competition from other schools. In recent years, these declines have happened the most at for-profit colleges, likely due to increased negative publicity related to for-profit institutions and well-publicized shutdowns of large for-profit colleges. Private non-profit colleges also saw a decline in enrollment, but enrollment at public colleges has actually increased slightly, likely due to reduced tuition costs and higher financial aid compared to private schools.
Loss of Accreditation
When a school is accredited, that means it has met certain standards for quality and effectiveness. Losing accreditation is a big deal. If a college loses its accreditation, it means the accrediting body has decided the school no longer meets these important standards, and it isn’t considered a good choice for students to attend.
Without accreditation, the college’s degrees may not be recognized by employers or other educational institutions. This severely diminishes their value. Students at unaccredited colleges may no longer be able to transfer their credits to other schools, and they may be ineligible for federal financial aid.
A school can lose accreditation for many reasons such as poor academic programs, administrative failures, or financial instability. For example, Alliance University lost accreditation in 2023 due to “significant and ongoing financial struggles.” The school closed shortly after.
Many of the colleges that have lost accreditation or are at risk of it are for-profit schools. In 2015, Corinthian Colleges, a large company that included numerous for-profit colleges, was investigated by state and federal authorities for numerous issues, including inflating job placement statistics, predatory marketing campaigns, lack of ability for students to transfer credits, and predatory loan and debt collection practices. Corinthian Colleges didn’t lose accreditation, but it certainly appeared to be heading that way, and after being sued for $30 million by the Department of Education, Corinthian Colleges shut down its 28 campuses less than two weeks later.
In the past decade or so, states and the federal government have begun cracking down on for-profit colleges that they feel are dangerous to students. Many for-profit schools have shuttered as a result. In fact, over 80% of the closed colleges that shut down from 2004-2020 were for-profit schools.
Pandemic
And, of course, all of the above issues were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic put numerous strains on colleges: they had to quickly shift to online learning (which often required purchasing new technology), they lost room and board revenue when dorms and cafeterias shut down, they had to ensure the health and safety of students and staff, and enrollment dropped across the board as students deferred their education due to health concerns and general uncertainty. International student enrollment dropped especially steeply due to travel restrictions. Many schools rely on international students (who often pay full price for tuition) as a key revenue source, so this hit especially hard.
Many schools that were previously barely getting by financially were further weakened by the pandemic. This led to increased school closures in 2020 and the years immediately following, a trend that still hasn’t stopped.
List of Colleges That Have Closed Permanently Since 2015
Below is a list of the four-year colleges that have closed since 2015. All non-profit colleges are listed, and that list of colleges that have closed permanently is followed by a list of some of the larger for-profit colleges that have closed since 2015.
Non-Profit Colleges That Have Closed
The colleges are organized by state, and each is followed by the year it closed down. If a closed college merged with another school, that is also noted.
Alabama
- Birmingham-Southern College (2024)
- Concordia College (2018)
- Judson College (2021)
- Southeastern Bible College (2017)
California
- Coleman University (2018)
- Holy Names University (2023)
- Marymount California University (2022)
- Mills College (2022)
- San Francisco Art Institute (2022)
- Shepherd University (2017)
- University of Saint Katherine (2024)
- Woodbury University (2024)
- Merged with University of Redlands
Colorado
- Colorado Heights University (2017)
Connecticut
- St. Vincent’s College (2017)
- Merged with Sacred Heart University
Delaware
- Delaware College of Art and Design (2024)
- Wesley College (2021)
- Merged with Delaware State University
Florida
- Hodges University (2024)
- Johnson University Florida (2024)
- Jones College (2017)
Illinois
- Lincoln College (2022)
- Lincoln Christian University (2024)
- Merged with Ozark Christian College
- MacMurray College (2020)
- Morthland College (2018)
- Oak Point University (2024)
- Robert Morris University Illinois (2020)
- Merged with Roosevelt University
- Shimer College (2017)
- Merged with North Central College
- St. Augustine College (2024)
- Merged with Lewis University
Indiana
- Ancilla College (2021)
- Merged with Marian University
- Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis (2024)
- Separated into different institutions
- Saint Joseph’s College (2017)
- Suspended operations but didn’t technically close
Iowa
- Iowa Wesleyan University (2023)
Kentucky
- St. Catharine College (2016)
Massachusetts
- Atlantic Union College (2018)
- Becker College (2021)
- Boston Conservatory (2016)
- Merged with Berklee College of Music
- Cambridge College (2025, anticipated)
- Will merge with Bay Path University
- Eastern Nazarene College (2025, anticipated)
- Episcopal Divinity School (2017)
- Mount Ida College (2018)
- Merged with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst
- Newbury College (2018)
- Pine Manor College (2020)
- Merged with Boston College
- School of the Museum of Fine Arts (2016)
- Merged with Tufts University
- Sojourner-Douglass College (2015)
- Wheelock College (2018)
- Merged with Boston University
Maryland
- Maryland University of Integrative Health (2024)
- Merged with Notre Dame of Maryland University
Michigan
- Compass College of Film and Media (2023)
- Merged with Calvin University
- Finlandia University (2023)
- Marygrove College (2019)
- Miller College (2016)
Minnesota
- Crossroads College (2017)
Missouri
- Cox College (2025, anticipated)
- Fontbonne University (2025, anticipated)
- St. Louis Christian College (2022)
- Merged with Central Christian College of the Bible
Nebraska
- Grace University (2017)
- Nebraska Christian College (2020)
Nevada
- Sierra Nevada University (2022)
- Merged with University of Nevada, Reno
New Hampshire
- New Hampshire Institute of Art (2019)
- Merged with New England College
- Magdalen College (2024)
New Jersey
- Bloomfield College (2023)
New York
- Alliance University (formerly Nyack College) (2023)
- Cazenovia College (2023)
- College of New Rochelle (2019)
- Merged with Mercy College
- College of Saint Rose (2024)
- Concordia College (2021)
- Dowling College (2016)
- Medaille University (2023)
- Marymount Manhattan College (2025, anticipated)
- Will merge with Northeastern University in Boston
- St. John’s University, Staten Island (2024)
- Wells University (2024)
North Carolina
- John Wesley University (2018)
Ohio
- Bluffton University (2025, anticipated)
- Merging with University of Findlay
- Chatfield College (2023)
- Cincinnati Christian University (2019)
- Notre Dame College (2024)
- Ohio Midwestern University (2015)
- Union Institute & University (2024)
- Urbana University (2020)
Oklahoma
- St. Gregory’s University (2017)
Oregon
- Concordia University (2020)
- Marylhurst University (2018)
- Multnomah University (2023)
- Merged with Jessup University
- Oregon College of Art and Craft (2019)
- Pacific Northwest College of Art (2021)
- Merged with Willamette University
Pennsylvania
- Cabrini University (2024)
- Clarks Summit University (2024)
- Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences (2024)
- Merged with Saint Joseph’s University
- Pittsburgh Technical College (2024)
- Salus University(2024)
- Merged with Drexel University
- University of the Arts (2024)
- University of the Sciences (2022)
- Merged with Saint Joseph’s University
Puerto Rico
- American University of Puerto Rico (2023)
South Dakota
- Presentation College (2023)
Tennessee
- Hiwassee College (2019)
- Martin Methodist College (2021)
- Merged with University of Tennessee to become UT Southern
- Memphis College of Art (2017)
- O’More College of Design (2018)
- Merged with Belmont University
- Watkins College of Art (2020)
- Merged with Belmont University
Utah
- Independence University (2021)
Vermont
- Burlington College (2016)
- College of St. Joseph (2019)
- Goddard College (2024)
- Green Mountain College (2019)
- Marlboro College (2020)
- Merged with Emerson College
- Southern Vermont College (2019)
Virginia
- Wave Leadership College (2022)
Washington
- Trinity Lutheran College (2016)
West Virginia
- Alderson Broaddus University (2023)
- Ohio Valley University (2021)
Wisconsin
- Cardinal Stritch University (2023)
- Holy Family College (2020)
- University of Wisconsin–Platteville Richland (2023)
Finlandia College closed in 2023.
Major For-Profit Colleges That Have Closed
Because many for-profit colleges are small and specialized (and they often close after a few years), we aren’t including every single for-profit college that has closed since 2015 to avoid cluttering the list.
- ASA College (New York, 2023)
- The Art Institutes (Multiple locations, 2023)
- Devry University (Multiple locations, 2020-2022)
- Everest Colleges (Multiple locations, 2015)
- Hussain College (Pennsylvania, 2023)
- ICDC College (California, 2015)
- ITT Technical Institutes (Multiple locations, 2016)
- Missouri College (Missouri, 2016)
- Mountain State College (West Virginia, 2024)
- Sanford-Brown Institutes (Multiple locations, 2017)
- Stratford University (Virginia, 2022)
- Vista College (Texas, 2021)
Summary: List of Colleges That Have Closed Permanently Since 2015
When a college closes, it ceases operations. Students can’t enroll, attend classes, or earn a degree from that school anymore. Even in the best case scenarios, when a school is able to give several months or years of lead time before the closure, and when it’s easy to transfer credits to another school, the process can be stressful and expensive.
The number of closed colleges has increased in recent years, due to multiple reasons: financial struggles, declining enrollment, accreditation issues, and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The majority of closed colleges (over 80%) that have shut down in the past decade are for-profit schools, and schools at risk of closure often show warning signs, such as shuttering certain programs and amenities, and being written about in the news for defaulting on loans or being at-risk of losing their accreditation. The idea of your college closing can be stressful, but if your school hasn’t shown any of the warning signs, and especially if it’s a non-profit school, it’s likely it will continue its operations the same as before and won’t join the list of colleges and universities that have closed.
What’s Next?
Want to apply to colleges you’re guaranteed to get into? Check out this guide for a complete list of colleges with 100% acceptance rates.
Are you applying for financial aid? This comprehensive guide takes you through the FAFSA application process step by step.
Interested in transferring colleges? Our complete guide to transferring colleges successfully takes you step-by-step through everything you need to know.
Source: blog.prepscholar.com