Requiem for a College: The Troubling Trend of College Closures in the United States

Heralded as “A crucial, compelling, and cautionary read for higher education in the 2020s and beyond,” Requiem for a College offers a riveting and heartbreaking insider’s view of the troubling trend of college closures in the United States.There are two kinds of institutions that we rarely question when it comes to their long-term viability: Banks and colleges. We assume that our money, our collegiate memories, and our children’s academic futures are safe and sound — that such time-honored institutions will outlast us. But when it comes to colleges and universities, the future is not promised.On February 3, 2017, Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Indiana, announced it would “suspend operations,” ending its 128-year history as a residential four-year college and leaving a painful void in the lives of students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the surrounding community. Requiem for a College, now in its 2nd edition, is their story.Deeply personal and replete with the powerful voices of the people who were there, this book by English professor Jonathan Nichols transports us back in time to the College’s final days, where we join him on a quest to find out what went wrong, how long the school had been suffering in silence, and who was at fault for destroying so many dreams and crushing so many careers.“To be a Puma is to be part of a family,” Nichols tells us. In his book, he invites us into that family, to experience the pride, the comfort, and the eventual devastating collapse of what had become a “home away from home” for thousands of people. Requiem for a College is a memoir that reads like a mystery — full of suspense, shock, and appalling behavior. It serves as a cautionary tale, a timely analysis, and a warm embrace of validation and support for educators and learners alike — across the USA and around the world — who have faced (or will face) the demise of a beloved college.Fiction writer and essayist William Gibson once said, “When you want to know how things really work, study them when they’re coming apart.” And that’s exactly what Jonathan Nichols has done. During the crisis, Nichols coped by investigating; he researched, and he wrote, and he talked to absolutely everyone who was willing to speak “on the record.” What he found and witnessed will frustrate you, shock you, and anger you — it will bring you to tears and will make you question everything you thought you knew about governing Boards and the business of higher education.Jonathan Nichols, for all his years as an English professor and fiction writer, has proven himself a formidable investigative journalist, researcher, and historian. He “kept the receipts” of the crisis, and they will astound you.There is, sadly, a larger story that extends beyond the confines of Indiana. Saint Joseph’s College is just one of thousands of academic institutions on the brink. College closures have been happening at such a rapid pace —a closure per week in the first half of 2024 — that it’s almost impossible to live in the United States and not have a connection to a shuttered academic institution. In the past 15 years, more than 300 degree-granting institutions have closed and nearly 1,000 post-secondary education providers in total have disappeared. And whether you think the trend is deeply troubling or just inevitable, the consequences are far-reaching. Requiem for a College should be required reading for everyone who works in, around, and on behalf of higher education.---With analysis of other college closures — including Antioch College, Burlington College, Cardinal Stritch University, Dana College, Dowling College, Lincoln College, St. Catharine College, St. Gregory’s University, and more — and with a foreword by Kate Colbert, author of Commencement: The Beginning of a New Era in Higher Education. Read more