Financial pressure, plunging enrollment force wave of US college closures

The board of trustees at the University of Providence in Montana voted in late October to end academic operations at the conclusion of the 2026-2027 academic year.

The institution will continue administrative and academic services to finalize grades and assist students, it announced on Oct. 27.

Its enrollment fell 23.5% between 2019 and 2024 to just 763 students, according to Higher Ed Dive.

Public records show the 94-year-old private university in Great Falls, Montana, ran a deficit in nine of the past 10 years.

The loss of a major healthcare partnership ultimately triggered its downfall, according to Inside Higher Ed.

Providence St. Joseph Health had provided the school with up to US$8.5 million annually since 2017 to support new medical programs.

Facing internal budget constraints, the health network recently began cutting that funding and mandated the university achieve financial independence by December 2027.

“Over the past several years, the university has sought a sustainable path forward in response to continued enrollment decline and increasingly significant financial pressures. Those efforts included restructuring academic programs, reducing operating expenses, pursuing new enrollment and revenue strategies, and exploring potential partnerships with other institutions. These actions eased immediate pressures but did not produce a viable long-term operating model,” the university said.

By the end of October, at least nine other higher education institutions had also announced closures due to enrollment and financial difficulties, according to The College Investor.

They are Sterling College, Providence Christian College, Lourdes University, Anna Maria College, Hampshire College, Martin University, Siena Heights University, Labouré College of Healthcare, Queens University of Charlotte, East Georgia State College, Kean University, and New Jersey City University.

Hampshire College in Massachusetts is scheduled to close at the end of this year with fewer than 170 students remaining.

The school’s board of trustees voted to close after the fall semester over what its president and the board described as “increasingly complex” financial pressure, the AP reported.

“The rationale behind this painful vote reflects several realities. The College no longer has the resources to sustain full operations and meet our regulatory responsibilities,” the university said in a statement.

College closures have become increasingly common as campuses compete for a shrinking pool of U.S. students.

Birth-rate decreases have translated to fewer college-age Americans overall.

At the same time, some states have seen smaller percentages of high school graduates heading to college since the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the AP.

Those shifts have left higher education with more supply than demand.

Many colleges, especially small private ones, have seen long-term enrollment decreases that put a pinch on finances, the news agency reported.

According to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), the number of U.S. high school graduates could fall by approximately 13% between 2025 and 2041, shrinking the pool of prospective college students.

Many university leaders and experts predict that around 20 to 25% of the 1,700 colleges and universities in the U.S. could disappear over the next decade, Forbes reported.