During college for many young people, ties of friendship that last a lifetime get formed. They take similar courses, are ever present together at competitions and enjoy playing sports together. But then again, colleges should remain functioning for long enough to enable such close relationships to be established. It was more of a shocker for Victoria Hebert when within forty eight months she had faced two college closures. Nowadays she plans with friends about transferring to a school found in Michigan.
Victoria’s parent Mia Mazza explained how following the pandemic they have had a hard time adjusting since they were used to not doing home schooling. One more time she couldn’t believe that Wells College was closing its doors again and so Victoria had had to change her university for the third time. On top of it all was the sudden shut down of University of the Arts located in Philadelphia leading to students’ despair.
There is frequent occurrence of college closures; moreover this tendency has heightened since the 2008 financial breakdown. In fact, just this year alone, one college every week has been announcing closure or merger. The Biden administration is trying hard to combat these challenges including debt clearance for students and stopping sudden campus close downs. However, the federal government has no means of pinpointing financially unstable private universities accurately.
Victoria’s quandaries started when Cazenovia College declared that it wouldn’t admit students for the 2023-2024 academic year because of financial challenges. She shifted to Wells College, but that institution shut down after one year. Similarly, Isabel Rose Catalan discovered from a news story that the University of the Arts was closing its doors too soon. She made another leap unknowing whether Drexel University will still be going ahead with her financial aid or not.
These close-downs also caught off guard accreditors and watchdogs as well. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education stripped both schools of their accreditation. In assessing colleges, the U.S. Department of Education utilizes a financial accountability score, however critics say it is outdated and can be easily manipulated.
To heighten management supervision, in July Department of Education tabled proposed measures to address both financial problems afflicting colleges. These shifts are hard to execute and expensive especially under tight budgets like these ones now existing in most countries around the world.