The problem of declining enrollment is hitting schools all over the country.
MassLive reports:
Clark University to lay off up to 30% of faculty amid enrollment woesClark University in Worcester is planning to lay off up to 30% of faculty and 5% of staff while restructuring degree programs due to enrollment and financial challenges, according to the institution.“All of higher education, Clark included, is at a critical inflection point,” Clark University President David Fithian said in a statement. “Rather than simply meet this challenging moment as an exercise in budget constraint, we have taken a longer view, leaning into current strengths and what is best about Clark to offer our students an even more compelling experience going forward.”The announcement comes in part as a reaction to the incoming first-year class not hitting the mark for how many students the institution aims for.The incoming class is underenrolled by 80 to 100 students, the institution said.The layoffs come after Worcester Polytechnic Institute laid off 24 employees due to pressures from rising costs and uncertainty regarding the Trump administration’s policies on higher education.In Massachusetts, over two dozen colleges and universities have closed or merged over the past decade due to financial and enrollment difficulties.Most recently, Eastern Nazarene College, a private Christian liberal arts college in Quincy, announced in June that it would close due to financial issues. Bard College at Simon’s Rock said in November it would close its campus due to declining enrollment.
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