UW-Madison’s Jared Colston, a Ph.D. student with the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, is the lead author on a report for New America titled “Anticipating and managing precipitous college closures.”
The paper concerns the closure of over 300 higher education institutions in the U.S., of which a majority are for-profit colleges that often serve low-income students. According to the report, an average of 20 campuses have closed per month over the past five years, leaving approximately 500,000 students affected.
Much of the data on college closures, however, is ambiguous regarding why and how institutions close. The report explains that, while some engage in orderly closures, many go through “precipitous closures,” meaning they shut down without much warning, leaving students stranded.
Colston’s paper aims to explain the warning signs that precede such closures, and what actions can be taken to protect students and staff. Reviewing some of the biggest collapses and smaller examples, Colston and his co-authors offer recommendations to help reverse this trend.
Read the full report here.