370 Colleges at Risk
The warning from Huron Consulting Group lands like a thunderclap across higher education. Analysts project that up to 370 private colleges could close or merge in the next decade, more than triple the number lost in the ten years before 2020. The driver is demographic decline: fewer births since 2007 mean fewer high school graduates and a sharp drop in demand for seats. The closures could displace 600,000 students and unsettle $18 billion in endowments. Survival hinges on more than cost cutting. Diversifying student populations and harnessing data analytics are emerging as lifelines. Predictive models can flag at risk students, strengthen recruitment, and guide program growth, while financial analytics expose inefficiencies and sharpen decisions. Colleges that act early may adapt; those that delay risk vanishing.
Further Reading: FA Magazine
John Phelan, Bay State College, Boston, 2011. CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.