Closed Colleges: List, Statistics, and Major Closures

Evan CastilloLyss Welding
By
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Updated on September 17, 2024
Edited by
Fact-checked by Marley Rose
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The number of public and nonprofit college closures keeps ticking higher. Here are the notable closures and statistics about closed colleges.
Empty seats in a college lecture hall.Credit: Image Credit: Image Source / Getty Images


Data Summary

  • checkAt least 72 public or nonprofit colleges have closed, merged, or announced closures or mergers since March 2020.
  • checkWe estimate that roughly 45,870 students have been impacted by private nonprofit college closures since 2020.
  • checkCampus closures peaked in the years leading up to the pandemic, driven by private for-profit college closures.[1]
  • checkNearly 80% of colleges closed between 2004-2020 were for-profit schools.[2]
  • checkJust over half of students who experienced a college closure did not re-enroll (52.9%).Note Reference [2]
  • check7 in 10 students impacted by a college closure experienced an abrupt closure.Note Reference [2]
  • checkFor-profit colleges are far more likely to close abruptly than public and nonprofit colleges.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought economic challenges to nearly every industry, including higher education. Campuses temporarily shut down to help contain the virus, and some struggled to re-open when lockdowns lifted.

But higher education was experiencing financial challenges before the pandemic, from dwindling enrollment to rising tuition to doubts about the value of a degree.

When a college closes, it affects students’ likelihood to re-enroll in a program — especially if a school closes abruptly, leaving students in the lurch.

This report lists major college closures since the start of the pandemic. It also covers college closure trends in the past decade and discusses what happens to students when colleges close.

List of Notable College Closures and Mergers Since March 2020

Here are some noteworthy college closures and mergers that have happened or were announced since March 15, 2020.

  • 40 public or private nonprofit schools or campuses on our list have closed or announced planned closures.
  • 31 public or private nonprofit schools on our list have merged or announced mergers with other universities.

As we’ll explore later, for-profit colleges tend to close at much higher rates than public and nonprofit schools. To keep our list succinct, we mainly focus on public and nonprofit colleges and only include larger for-profit schools that have sparked particular controversy.

Fall – Bluffton University, Ohio

  • School Type: Private nonprofit
  • Enrollment: 745
  • Primary Reason: Mutual benefit; merging with University of Findlay

Spring/Fall – The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Texas

  • School Type: Public nonprofit
  • Enrollment: 3,518
  • Primary Reason: Mutual benefit; merging with the University of Texas at San Antonio

Summer – Fontbonne University, Missouri

  • School Type: Private nonprofit
  • Enrollment: 944
  • Primary Reason: Enrollment, Financial

Spring – St. Ambrose University, Iowa

  • School Type: Private nonprofit
  • Enrollment: 1,526
  • Primary Reason: Mutual benefit; merging with Mount Mercy University

Spring – Eastern Nazarene College, Massachusetts

  • School Type: Private nonprofit
  • Enrollment: 535
  • Primary Reason: Financial

search-circle About This List

We found schools’ most recently reported fall enrollment in the National Center for Education Statistics’ College Navigator Database.[8] If no data were available, we used figures from the school’s website or linked news release.

We also include a reason for each closure or merger. Here’s what each means:

  • Accreditation Issues: A college lost accreditation, preventing it from enrolling new students.
  • Financial: A college closed due to financial struggle (e.g., lack of funding).
  • Enrollment: A declining number of students over the years strained the institution’s feasibility.
  • Mutual Benefit: Two or more institutions mutually benefited from merging (e.g., schools shared complementary programs)
  • Pandemic: The college closed due to strain primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

College Closures Over Time

The State Higher Education Executive Office (SHEEO) and the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (NSCRC) analyzed college campus closures from July 2004-June 2020. Out of the nearly 12,000 college campuses that closed in this period, the researchers looked at a sample of 467 schools. They found:Note Reference [2]

  • 78% of closed colleges were for-profit schools.
  • 21% were private nonprofit schools.
  • Less than 1% were public, and most of these were online programs.
  • About 53% of closed colleges were two-year, and 47% were four-year.

The SHEEO/NSCRC report cites loss of accreditation and financial challenges as the primary reasons for-profit colleges close.Note Reference [2]

We plotted the data the researchers collected over time below.

  • Campus closures started ticking up after 2012 and peaked in 2018.
  • In the years with the most closures, for-profit campus closures overwhelmed those of nonprofit and public schools.

search-circle Behind the Numbers

The numbers in the graph above represent a sample of all college closures. So, this graph is useful for finding trends in college closures, not for counting the total number of college closures.

Abrupt College Closures

Closing colleges may create written transition plans for students. Unfortunately, many closures are abrupt, meaning a school closes without warning or a transfer plan for students.

Among the 467 school closures SHEEO and NSCRC analyzed:Note Reference [2]

  • Almost one-third of college closures (31.5%) happened abruptly.
  • For-profit colleges are far more likely to close abruptly than public and nonprofit colleges.
  • Schools that closed abruptly served larger student bodies than those that closed in an orderly manner, on average (682 vs. 134 in average total enrollment).
  • 7 in 10 students impacted by a college closure experienced an abrupt closure.

What Happens After a College Closes

In the SHEEO/NSCRC study:Note Reference [2]

  • Most students who experienced a college closure did not re-enroll in another program (52.9%).
  • Students who experienced an abrupt closure had lower re-enrollment and completion rates than students who experienced an orderly closure.

Not completing a college degree could affect the likelihood of defaulting on a student loan. Closed colleges are more likely to enroll larger proportions of students of color, women, and Pell Grant recipientsNote Reference [2] — groups that carry more student loan debt on average.

If you’re a student, there are steps you can take if your college closes, like finishing your program at another school or possibly getting a discharge for federal student loans.