Small colleges closing or merging

Hampshire College said it will shut down after the fall 2026 semester, another sign that financial strain is still forcing small colleges to close or sell. (insidehighered.com) The Massachusetts liberal arts college announced the decision on April 14 after what it called failed efforts to raise enrollment, refinance debt and generate cash from a land sale. Inside Higher Ed reported Hampshire missed its enrollment target this year by nearly half. (hampshire.edu) (insidehighered.com) Hampshire’s accreditor, the New England Commission of Higher Education, had put the college on notice in March over enrollment and finances. Local reporting said Hampshire recruited 168 students instead of its 300-student goal and was carrying more than $20 million in debt it could not refinance. (wgbh.org) (masslive.com) California College of the Arts reached a different end point in January: it said it would wind down by the end of the 2026-27 academic year under an agreement with Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt said it plans to open a San Francisco campus in 2027, subject to approvals, and expects to serve about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students there. (cca.edu) (news.vanderbilt.edu) California College of the Arts said Vanderbilt will take ownership of the campus after the wind-down and establish undergraduate and graduate programs, including art and design. Reporting on the deal said Vanderbilt also plans to preserve the college’s archives and continue its Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts. (cca.edu) (highereddive.com) These moves are part of a broader run of closures and mergers among tuition-dependent colleges. University Business listed Lourdes University among the 2026 closures, while Inside Higher Ed reported in December 2024 that at least 16 nonprofit institutions had announced closures that year and others had merged. (universitybusiness.com) (insidehighered.com) The pressure points are familiar: fewer students, higher costs and heavier scrutiny from accreditors and the federal financial-aid system. University Business reported that weak financial-responsibility scores can trigger more oversight and threaten access to Title IV federal student aid. (universitybusiness.com) Hampshire already survived one near-death moment in 2019, when alumni and donors rallied after the college said it would seek a merger partner and stop admitting a full class. Seven years later, the college said the money and enrollment rebound it needed never arrived. (wgbh.org) (hampshire.edu) For students, the immediate questions are teach-out plans, transfers and refunds. Hampshire said incoming students who paid deposits for the 2026 class will get refunds, while California College of the Arts posted transition guidance as it works through its final academic year before Vanderbilt takes over the campus. (wbur.org) (portal.cca.edu)