The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York, has decided to close after 103 years.
The Albany Times Union reports that the school’s Board of Trustees has voted to shut down at the end of the academic year in May.
The closure means hundreds of people will lose their jobs, students will be forced to transfer to another school, and 87 properties in Albany will be left vacant.In 2020, there were 2,200 undergraduates, according to the State Education Department. Federal statistics say the college had about 1,800 undergraduates in 2022, and that number continued to drop this fall.
In fall 2022, the college had 118 full-time faculty and 107 part-time faculty, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. It has 500 to 600 employees in total.
College officials have tried to secure emergency funding from the state, county and city in an effort to stay open. None of those entities said they could immediately offer help.
The college has dealt with financial woes for years as its enrollment steadily dropped. In June, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education said the college’s accreditation was in jeopardy and it was given six months to make improvements.
For students at The College of Saint Rose, the next step will be to apply immediately for transfer next fall to another college if they are not on track to graduate by May 2024.
The college was doing well in the 1980s and 1990s as enrollment rose 53%. From 1996 to 2012, the college spent more than $100 million on new facilities.
But in the ensuing years, the college began publicly acknowledging financial problems.
