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Located on the “About MacMurray College” section of their website, the college states that it was “founded in 1846, was an independent, four-year college with a strong liberal arts tradition that was closed by its Board of Trustees after the 2020 spring semester.” In 2021, the President of Ohio Valley University, Michael W. Ross, announced with “regret and sorrow” that the school would not offer classes in the spring semester of 2022. “We find ourselves in an extremely difficult financial situation and know that we have work to do to complete the current semester.” Just a few months ago, Chatfield College in Ohio made the decision to transition from a two-year private liberal arts college to a nonprofit agency focused on supporting postsecondary education attainment.
These are just some examples of higher education institutions (HEIs) that have closed down due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The net that the pandemic cast was wide and hard to ignore for most colleges and universities as it spread quickly, and without any real plans to combat it, we are just now seeing the long-term effects play out. The main symptom of the cause harkens back to the issue HEIs were facing pre-pandemic: declining enrollment. The issue was only exacerbated once the pandemic hit, and now that inflation is on the rise, the challenge is compounded. There is a clear disparity in which institutions are sinking and which are staying afloat. The colleges that have closed since the pandemic accept more students on average. According to BestColleges, these schools are more likely to enroll larger proportions of students of color, women, and Pell Grant recipients.
According to CNBC, larger institutions are not facing the same financial insecurities as smaller institutions. As students have to make the cost-effective decision to attend less expensive public schools, the declining enrollment and rise in inflation have squandered or minimized the endowment at many smaller institutions, which has left more HEIs in financial jeopardy. CNBC states that federal and state support for students has also been on the decline since the pandemic while, on average, college tuition costs are still rising. What is the solution to this issue, and can higher education move forward in the face of its biggest obstacle yet?
A senior policy analyst for The State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO), Dr. Rachel Burns, has called for state regulators to make sure all colleges have contingency plans. These plans also referred to as “teach-out plans” for all schools facing closure, offer an automatic transfer for students from a closing institution to attend another school and have all credits rolled over to a different institution. This plan is set up to combat declining enrollment and provide support for students most impacted by closing institutions like those facing financial insecurity and unable to apply to other institutions on their own.
There is a positive side to the effects of the pandemic, which is that now schools have learned how to withstand an economic crisis and adapt to the changing landscape while finding creative ways to help students. For example, USA Today reported on the closure of Mills College in Oakland, California in 2021. The school announced the closure due to economic burdens as a result of the pandemic, but they started the ‘Changemaker in Oakland Program’ that allows 200 neighboring UC Berkeley first-year students to live on the Mills Campus and attend classes on the campus, as well. Though the pandemic caused the closure of colleges and universities that have been around for a long time, some have found ways to create partnerships with larger schools with the shared goal of educating students like Mills College has done.
Other colleges have adapted to the changes the pandemic has set in place. One main way that colleges have learned to adapt is by adopting an online or hybrid option for students to utilize instead of entirely in-person courses. The International Institute for Higher Education in Latin America and the Caribbean stated that “virtual modalities gained space to create international environments and disseminate knowledge.” This option can help increase enrollment for domestic and international students and, in turn, increase opportunities for more funding. When students have the opportunity of choosing how they learn, this can be a game changer for increasing enrollment. Another essential part of turning to a digital landscape for colleges and universities comes from Deloitte. They assert that colleges and universities should focus on becoming more data-driven because it has become much easier to capture data for analysis due to the shift in digital learning. Putting time and energy into researching how students learn and in what environments they learn the most effectively can help with increasing enrollment and financing options.
All this to say, there is no one right path to take or one answer to such a complex question, but there is hope in the midst of such a monumental challenge. Despite fear and uncertainty in the aftermath of the pandemic, the creative and new ways colleges and universities have fought to stay open provide a positive and hopeful outlook for the future of higher education. Education professionals are willing to fight for students’ right to an education and have worked hard to keep their doors open. The energy and optimism that has allowed for higher learning will continue to flourish even through the most challenging of financial circumstances because higher education professionals care deeply about students and their access to education. Moving forward, it is imperative for leaders and change-makers in this field to look back on history and learn from the past in order to grow.
Disclaimer: HigherEdJobs encourages free discourse and expression of issues while striving for accurate presentation to our audience. A guest opinion serves as an avenue to address and explore important topics, for authors to impart their expertise to our higher education audience and to challenge readers to consider points of view that could be outside of their comfort zone. The viewpoints, beliefs, or opinions expressed in the above piece are those of the author(s) and don’t imply endorsement by HigherEdJobs.
