As if finding a suitable, affordable college isn’t hard enough, students must also find one that isn’t likely to close on them, experts say.
Every week, on average, a college or university closes, according to an analysis by the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association (SHEEO). That’s up from about two a month last year and could worsen this fall as college enrollment dwindles further, experts said.
When schools close, fewer than half of the students transfer to another school, the executive officers association said. Of those who do, less than half graduate, it said. The others who reenrolled and didn’t finish, just added to their student debt and “added to the population of students who have some college but no credential,” the association said.
That means choosing a school that’s the right fit for you and affordable isn’t enough. You also need to research the school’s financials to ensure its solvency, said Jack Wallace, director of governmental and lender relations at Yrefy, a private student-loan company.
“You’ve got to look at the school’s financials, liquidity and endowments,” he said, noting the work is like researching a company to decide whether to buy its stock.
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Why are so many schools closing?
Many small private schools, both for-profit and nonprofit, depend on tuition to operate. With enrollments trending lower for more than a decade, smaller schools with little to no endowments are having
