Struggling financially and enrollments decreasing, smaller colleges and regional campuses are shutting down.
Abbey Ballentine, a student from Ohio’s Cleveland area, selected nearby Notre Dame College because it had everything she was looking for. It was a small, friendly campus with competitive Division II soccer and it was close to home.
By late fall of 2023, just a few months into her freshman year, she heard rumors the school had financial problems.
The official closure announcement was made early into the spring semester and the college closed its doors in May.
Campus advisors and administrators helped students quickly find other schools within a reasonable distance that would honor their financial aid packages and accept academic credits. Ballentine chose Thiel College in western Pennsylvania.
She’s still warming up to her new environment. The soccer team is Division III, a lower level than her prior team but also an opportunity for more playing time. The campus is more spread out and further from home. The move also pushed Ballentine out of her comfort zone and challenged her to switch majors from nursing to exercise science, which she has enjoyed.
“I think it’s a good match for me, and I actually like being further away from home, so far,” Ballentine told The Epoch Times. “But it’s only been a month, and I kind of still miss everything about Notre Dame.”
The support provided to Notre Dame College students in such a short window is rare, according to Rachel Burns, senior policy analyst with the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), a research and policy organization.
Burns said 70 percent of private college students who attended institutions that closed abruptly in the past five years received no help in finding a place to continue their academic career.
Of the 500,000 students displaced by closures, less than half re-enrolled elsewhere, she said.
And by this time next year, U.S. high school students could be looking at even fewer college choices.
Leaders at many higher learning institutions may determine their school’s fate in a matter of weeks after all federal financial aid checks for students attending this academic year are accounted for, says Gary Stocker of College Viability, a data analytics company that specializes in higher education finances.
By Aaron Giffor
