Colleges Are Closing Their Doors Rapidly – What Does That Mean?

 

 

Musing Over Colleges Closing Their Doors

 

 

While perusing Twitter (or X, if you prefer) the other night, I came across an article so shocking, I had to read the title twice:

 

Colleges are now closing at a pace of one a week. What happens to the students?

 

Yes, you read that right – in 2024, it is a pace of one a week.

I was curious, so a little bit of research – which took me to US News and World Report, often associated with college ranking – said that “There were 3,982 degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the U.S. as of the 2019-2020 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.”

That may seem like a large number, but when you consider the infatuation with higher education Americans have, the enormous cost of attending, and the number that are closing, it gives it a bit more perspective.

 

What’s Going On?

That is a nuanced question, full of variables – but here’s what the article said:

 

“Colleges are almost certain to keep closing. As many as one in 10 four-year colleges and universities are in financial peril, the consulting firm EY Parthenon estimates.

‘It’s simply supply and demand,’ said Gary Stocker, a former chief of staff at Westminster College in Missouri and the founder of College Viability, which evaluates institutions’ financial stability. The closings follow an enrollment decline of 14 percent in the decade through 2022, the most recent period for which the figures are available from the Education Department. Another decline of up to 15 percent is projected to begin in 2025.

‘The only thing that’s going to fix this is enough closings or consolidations at which supply and demand reach equilibrium,’ Stocker said.”

 

In other words, the belief is that due to enrollment declines, you have fewer students (and money, more importantly) coming in, which puts a financial strain on the college. Over time, that financial strain ultimately leads to the college closing.

In other words, the law of supply and demand.

That’s about as simplistic as it gets, but for my part, I believe there are some variables at play that have not been discussed when we look at colleges closing. To that end, let’s explore them.

 

Supply and Demand?

 

First up is the supply and demand perspective. On the face of it, it’s fairly simple: IF there is no demand (or decreased demand) for a product – in this case, college – then the supply will shrink. That’s precisely what we have going on, at least according to the article.

But is that all that’s going on?

No – no, it’s not.

There’s more to it. Let’s take a look at some of the variables not mentioned in the article but have been instrumental in bringing us up to this point.

 

You Have To Go To College To Get A Good Job

 

I won’t take the time to explore this in depth; you can check out some of the other articles about college, here. Instead, we will run under the assumption that this is a deeply entrenched narrative that has been spun for at least four decades. During that time, we have seen a sharp rise in college enrollments, many under the premise that if they didn’t go, they wouldn’t be able to get a good job.

The result?

The Education Data Initiative has a great report on this, and the major point is the sharp rise in college attendance since 1970. Take a look at the infograph below:

 

Source: Education Data Initiative

This significant rise, of course, didn’t just increase the total number of students at American colleges; it also brought in increased revenue through sheer numbers of tuition payers.

That MAY have been palatable IF colleges weren’t greedy and subsequently turned into businesses. We have the benefit of looking back now, and what do we see?

Colleges sought to capitalize on increased student attendance by – raising tuition rates significantly, and this is our next point.

 

Rising Tuition Costs

This infographic, from another Education Data Initiative article, plots out for us the rise in tuition costs since 1970:

 

Source: Education Data Initiative

 

What’s more, according to Bestcolleges.com, tuition costs have risen 65% in the time period of 2000 to 2021.

Yes, you read that right, too: 65% is a massive increase in such a short time – especially since wages have essentially been stagnant.

The Best Colleges website/article has some really good graphs that, if you are so inclined, you should check it out. As I’ve maintained for years on this platform, the data is out there for any number of subjects – one just has to be tenacious when looking.

To that end, there is no disputing the significant rise in tuition, and when we compare the wages, it’s all the more egregious. This has certainly added to the problem of colleges closing.

 

Decreased Educational Quality

 

On the heels of tuition increases, we see declines in educational quality.

Why?

Prior to this significant push (around 1970), you could see a fairly slow rise in attendance – which, when you think about it, is far more conducive to a higher education model.

Not everyone is cut out for higher education. A LOT do not want to to pursue college once graduating from high school – and, indeed, many did not have to back then. We didn’t have an unnatural love affair with higher education, nor did we conflate positions within companies, college degrees, and increased compensation.

Once the focus shifted, however, we see significant rises in the number of students attending – many that would likely have not elected to go if they hadn’t bought into the narrative “you have to go to college to get a good job.”

As a consequence, the educational quality colleges and higher education used to possess has decreased, as a result.

This sequence of events, once you remove any vestige of a pro-college perspective, makes sense. People who are, to put it kindly, marginal when it comes to academics, have now joined the ranks where more should be expected from them. Their study habits should be more vigorous. Their critical thinking skills are required to expand. Their academic prowess overall should be expanding.

That’s not what happened, though. As people struggled, educational quality has declined to meet the number of people who – again, attempting to be fair – shouldn’t have attended college in the first place. Or, at least, shouldn’t have attended college under the pretense they did.

Because colleges as a whole have been transformed into a business model, they have more interest in retaining those students along with their elevated tuition rates. A decline in education under these circumstances was bound to happen.

If you want to go to college – to increase your understanding, to expand your critical thinking skills (although one could argue this point based on what we are seeing coming out of higher educational institutions today), to educate yourself – then yes, those are good reasons.

NOT because “you have to go to college to get a good job.”

Effectively, then, what’s been created and masquerading as higher education is “high school 2.0,” – at a significant cost; namely, colleges closing.

 

College Debt Has Skyrocketed

 

If I could only impress upon you, the reader, ONE number, it would be this: 1.77 TRILLION.

That’s the amount collectively owed in college tuition by Americans.

That’s a massive number, too.

To be fair, this isn’t JUST a problem at the college level; the stagnation of wages since the 1970’s has a huge part to play. However, colleges don’t get a pass; they were the ones who’ve increased the tuition and went along with the narrative “you have to go to college to get a good job.”

This point doesn’t need to be expanded a lot; after all, 1.77 TRILLION drives home the point quite well.

Intelligent.com has a great article exploring this, the ability to work through college, and, of course, tuition debt, and I encourage you to check it out.

No one (but creditors) likes debt, and college tuition debt is the largest debt behind mortgages; what’s more, you CANNOT CLAIM BANKRUPTCY ON IT, either (tell me lobbying and politics don’t matter).

 

Colleges Have Become A Hotbed For Propaganda

 

Unless you live under a rock, you’re aware of current events when it comes to universities, protests, and propaganda.

For example, there was the scandal of plagiarism.

Or perhaps you’d like to take a look at the increased anti-American drivel being spewed.

More recently, there have been protests FOR a known terrorist group that uses its people as hostage shields.

Everywhere you turn, it seems like colleges are hotbeds for controversy and propaganda. Normally, this would be ok (especially the first) since protest is a normal, nevermind protected activity under the Bill of Rights. What many deem unacceptable, however, is how many of the colleges – often from the professorship – have either condoned such propaganda or appear to be the originator of it.

The result?

Radicalized students in any number of situations.

Couple this with rising tuition costs, stagnated wages, and enormous debt you cannot claim bankruptcy on; you can begin to understand why the cracks are becoming too big to ignore.

 

Other Reasons

What are some of these other reasons for colleges closing that do not get their own section?

Let’s see:

• Free online learning and changes in the learning model overall have brought about disinterest in higher education in this country.
• The narrative “you have to go to college to get a good job” has been successfully challenged by many (the skilled trades, for instance, have been disproving this for a while, now). Some have effectively used social media to get the word out: you do NOT have to go.
• Companies are seeing the rise of people and their inability to accept constructive criticism; lacking resiliency and the skill to continually improve themselves. While not exclusively due to college, it certainly has been fostered in that environment.

 

The Result: Declining Interest In The College/University Model

Growing numbers of people are not interested in climbing on the conveyor belt of higher education

 

The results are in: diminished interest in college has brought about declining enrollments – leading to colleges ultimately closing.

Perhaps this was always inevitable. This is a complex situation, but one thing’s for sure: NOT taking the above into account when evaluating this is short-sighted. Moreover, it doesn’t line up with what I’ve said on the platform for a long time now: IF you want to begin to address a problem, you need to understand as much of it as possible. Not acknowledging the nuanced points listed above does NOT help anyone – except colleges, and even then, it’s only their paper-thin reputation.

They are still closing. They are still reeling from the effects. They are still continuing to pursue the same tactics that have led to these occurrences. And as long as they do, they will get the same old, same old.