Iowa Wesleyan University Closing After Almost Two-Hundred Years
“The school’s trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to close the private college after the current academic year”
This just goes to show that it doesn’t matter how old an institution is. Any school can face this fate if the wrong conditions line up against it.
FOX News reports:
Iowa Wesleyan University to close after nearly 2 centuries
Iowa Wesleyan University in Mount Pleasant will close in May after providing education opportunities in southeast Iowa since 1842, school officials said Tuesday.
The school’s trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to close the private college after the current academic year, according to a news release.
The nearly 850 students will be able to finish their degree programs through agreements with other colleges, including William Penn University, Upper Iowa University, University of Dubuque and Culver-Stockton College.
The trustees said increased operating costs, enrollment trends and a sharp drop in philanthropic giving contributed to the decision to close. They also cited Gov. Kim Reynolds’ denial of a request for $12 million in federal COVID funds.
Reynolds said in a statement Tuesday that an independent accounting firm found Iowa Wesleyan had a $26.1 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, using the campus as collateral, that could be recalled in full in November. She said the firm determined that providing one-time federal funding would not solve the university’s systemic financial issues.
The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported that Iowa Wesleyan — and many of the region’s smaller private four-year schools — have been struggling to survive for years.
The closing comes after an “intensive analysis of Iowa Wesleyan’s financial operations and considerable exploration of all feasible strategic alternatives,” the trustees said.
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Would like more information. Did they go woke causing donors to stop donating?
If the college performed research tied into national security interests China would swell the rolls with students from China paying the non-resident rate that would fill the coffers. Just for education, right? No prying or pilfering of military or industrial secrets. right? Just a desire for a good education grounded in Western thoughts!!!!
Birmingham Southern College (BSC) in Birmingham, AL may be on the verge of going under this Summer. They’re trying to get. Combination of State & Local funding, but so far the Governor is refusing any State Aid.
BSC was founded by the Methodist Church, & I’m almost positive the current upheaval in the United Methodist Church (UMC) is part of the problem.
Churches & Parishioners are leaving the UMC because of the Liberal/Leftist path the UMC has taken.
Go Woke, Go Broke.
I’ve seen that another Methodist school, Drew University in New Jersey — nice place, by the way — is also under serious financial pressure. I don’t think they get any support from the denomination, which is shrinking and splintering as we write.
This is part of the ongoing great shake-out that will continue in higher ed. We saw Pa consolidate many of its state colleges, and we will keep seeing small, church-affiliated liberal arts schools go under.
With the student-age population falling, the value of a college education under pressure, and the price of it unaffordable without serious debt, sensible people are no longer willing to attend.
In 2019, 14 of NJ’s private colleges received bad financial report cards. Since then, one of them, Bloomfield, has been absorbed by a state university. I expect two, or even three more to shut their doors by 2030. There’s the same number of schools chasing the shrinking pool of students, and they can’t all survive.
Were they heavy on the admin?
“ Iowa Wesleyan had a $26.1 million loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, using the campus as collateral, that could be recalled in full in November.”
What does this mean? Iowa Wesylesn defaults on its $26 million loan, the US Agruulture Drpartment gets a 200 acre campus with unused dormitories and starts shipping immigrants to Iowa.