Insolvency

Bond debt + enrollment decline · Closed

FB-019 · 2026

Predominantly Black institution · Indiana

Martin University — Indiana’s only Black-serving college, gone after 49 years

Insolvency · Closed

SG-020 · 2026

Catholic university · Ohio

Lourdes University — A Franciscan University the Sisters Could No Longer Carry

lost denominational subsidy · Closed

SG-021 · 2026

Reformed Christian college · California

Providence Christian College — A College with a $25,000 Endowment, Undone When a Federal Grant Vanished

lost federal grant + no endowment · Closed

FB-020 · 2025

Environmental liberal-arts college · Wisconsin

Northland College — An environmental college that borrowed its endowment to death

Insolvency + failed fundraise · Closed

FB-021 · 2025

Private university · South Carolina

Limestone University — 180 years gone in a week for want of $6 million

Insolvency + failed fundraise · Closed

SG-022 · 2025

Native American–serving college · Oklahoma

Bacone College — Oklahoma’s oldest college, founded for Native students, liquidated by a bankruptcy trustee

insolvency + bankruptcy · Closed

SG-023 · 2025

Presbyterian college · North Carolina

St. Andrews University — Enrollment was rising; the parent ran out of money anyway

parent finances + abrupt closure · Closed

SG-024 · 2025

Nazarene college · Massachusetts

Eastern Nazarene College — A century in Quincy ended by the cliff, its campus sold to the city

finances + failed rescue · Closed

SG-025 · 2025

Christian college · New York, NY

The King’s College — A Christian College That Closed Twice, the Second Time for Good

insolvency + failed revival · Closed

BD-016 · 2025

For-profit conservatory · New York

New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts — A 45-Year Acting School the Numbers Finally Closed

enrollment + financial forecasts · Closed

FB-011 · 2024

Liberal-arts college · Alabama

Birmingham-Southern College — A 168-Year-Old College the State Refused to Float

Endowment depletion + failed state loan · Closed

FB-014 · 2024

Arts university · Pennsylvania

The University of the Arts — A Century-Old Arts University That Gave a Week’s Notice

Finances + abrupt accreditation loss · Closed

FB-022 · 2024

Distance university · Ohio

Union Institute & University — A 60-Year Pioneer of Adult Learning That Stopped Paying Its Faculty

Insolvency + bankruptcy · Closed

FB-026 · 2024

Community college · Ohio

Eastern Gateway Community College — A free-college scheme that took the whole college down with it

Aid scheme + insolvency · Closed

SG-029 · 2024

Orthodox college · California

University of Saint Katherine — An Orthodox Sports College That Closed by 4 p.m. Email, Mid-Tournament

insolvency + abrupt closure · Closed

FB-010 · 2023

Liberal-arts college · New York

Cazenovia College — A Bond It Couldn’t Refinance Ended 199 Years

Debt + enrollment · Closed

SG-010 · 2023

Methodist university · Iowa

Iowa Wesleyan University — A 181-Year-Old Methodist University the State Declined to Save

debt + finances · Closed

SG-012 · 2023

Catholic university · California

Holy Names University — 154 Years of Oakland’s First-Generation College, Closed by Debt and Decline

deficits + enrollment · Closed

SG-031 · 2023

Christian university · New York

Alliance University — A 141-Year Mission to Immigrants, Foreclosed by an Office Loan

debt + lost accreditation · Closed

SG-032 · 2023

Lutheran university · Michigan

Finlandia University — America’s Only Finnish College, Closed Under an Unbearable Debt

debt + enrollment cliff · Closed

FB-029 · 2022

Art school · California

San Francisco Art Institute — The West’s Oldest Art School, Bankrupt After 151 Years

Debt + insolvency · Closed

SG-013 · 2022

Catholic university · California

Marymount California University — A Failed Merger, Then a Closure on the Doorstep of Fall

finances + enrollment · Closed

FB-030 · 2021

Private college · Massachusetts

Becker College — A Game-Design Pioneer the Pandemic Pushed Over the Edge

Finances + COVID · Closed

SG-033 · 2021

Christian university · West Virginia

Ohio Valley University — A Church College That Could Not Make Payroll

insolvency + enrollment · Closed

SG-001 · 2020

Lutheran university · Oregon

Concordia University Portland — The Largest Lutheran University in America, Gone in a Single Vote

finances + abrupt closure · Closed

FB-002 · 2019

Liberal-arts college · Vermont

Green Mountain College — The Greenest College in America Could Not Pay Its Bills

Enrollment + no endowment · Closed

FB-032 · 2019

Art & craft college · Oregon

Oregon College of Art and Craft — A 112-Year-Old Craft School That Spent Its Endowment to Death

Insolvency + failed merger · Closed

BD-005 · 2019

For-profit chain · USA

Argosy University — A Psychology Chain a Charity Bankrupted, Then Robbed Its Students

Dream Center collapse + withheld student aid · Closed

FB-001 · 2018

Liberal-arts college · Massachusetts

Mount Ida College — A 119-Year-Old College That Closed With Six Weeks’ Notice

Debt + enrollment · Closed

SG-002 · 2018

Lutheran college · Alabama

Concordia College Alabama — The Only Black Lutheran College in America, Closed in Selma

enrollment + finances · Closed

BD-015 · 2018

For-profit chain · USA (Midwest)

Vatterott College — A Midwest Trade Chain That Locked Its Doors at 4 p.m.

aid restriction + abrupt closure · Closed

SG-003 · 2017

Catholic college · Indiana

Saint Joseph’s College — A Century-Old Catholic College Sunk by $100 Million in Bills

debt + deferred maintenance · Closed

SG-038 · 2017

Catholic university · Oklahoma

St. Gregory’s University — Oklahoma’s Oldest College, Undone by a Loan That Never Came

debt + enrollment + denied USDA loan · Closed

FB-006 · 2016

Liberal-arts college · New York

Dowling College — A Long Island College That Closed Three Days After It Said It Would

Debt + enrollment · Closed

FB-007 · 2016

Alternative liberal-arts college · Vermont

Burlington College — A Tiny College That Bought Too Much Land

Debt (land purchase) · Closed

SG-039 · 2016

Catholic college · Kentucky

St. Catharine College — A Dominican College That Sued Washington and Lost Everything

federal aid sanction + construction debt · Closed

BD-009 · 2016

For-profit chain · USA

Le Cordon Bleu — A French Cooking Name Americans Borrowed Against, Then Lost

regulation + corporate exit · Closed

BD-010 · 2016

For-profit school · California

Brooks Institute — A Famous Photography School That Became a Borrower-Defense Test Case

corporate exit + abrupt closure · Closed

BD-012 · 2016

For-profit chain · USA

Sanford-Brown — A 150-Year-Old Name Wound Down When Its Owner Walked Away

corporate exit (CEC) · Closed

BD-014 · 2016

For-profit chain · USA

Brown Mackie College — A 20-Campus Chain That Died When Its Parent Did

EDMC collapse · Closed

FB-033 · 2014

Two-year college · New Hampshire

Lebanon College — A Downtown Two-Year College That Ran Out of Gas

Insolvency · Closed

BD-022 · 2014

For-profit career college · Texas

Anamarc College — A Family-Run Career School Felled by an Embezzlement at Home

insolvency + alleged embezzlement · Closed

BD-023 · 2014

For-profit chain · Arizona

Anthem College — A 41-Campus Chain That Closed by Bankruptcy in Forty-Eight Hours

bankruptcy + federal-aid cutoff · Closed

SG-045 · 2012

Methodist junior college · Texas

Lon Morris College — Texas’s oldest two-year college, run aground by its own growth

insolvency + bankruptcy · Closed

SG-046 · 2011

Pentecostal university · California

Bethany University — The Assemblies of God’s oldest college, closed in a single sentence

debt + enrollment decline · Closed

BD-024 · 2009

For-profit career college · New Hampshire

McIntosh College — A 113-Year-Old School a Corporation Decided to Close

corporate exit + losses · Closed

FB-035 · 2008

Liberal-arts college · Ohio

Antioch College — The College Its Own University Closed, and Its Alumni Bought Back

insolvency revived 2000s

Governance + endowment · Revived

SG-049 · 2007

Presbyterian college · Sitka, AK

Sheldon Jackson College — Alaska’s Oldest College, Boarded Up in a Single Week

insolvency + deferred maintenance · Closed

FB-036 · 2002

Liberal-arts college · Wisconsin

Mount Senario College — A Debt-Free College Spent Itself to Death in Five Years

Mismanagement + insolvency · Closed

SG-051 · 2002

Catholic university · Davenport, IA

Marycrest International University — A Catholic Women’s College That Sold Its Name to Japan, Then Vanished

enrollment decline + finances · Closed

FB-037 · 2000

Liberal-arts college · Massachusetts

Bradford College — A 197-Year-Old College Borrowed for Dorms That Never Filled

Debt + enrollment · Closed

SG-054 · 1997

Liberal-arts college · Iowa

Westmar University — Rescued by Japan, Bought by Its Town, Closed in Six Weeks

insolvency + failed rescue · Closed

FB-038 · 1996

Community college · Michigan

Highland Park Community College — The College That Died With Its Company Town

Municipal fiscal collapse · Closed

SG-055 · 1995

Lutheran college · New Jersey

Upsala College — The Lutheran College That Stayed Until the Money Ran Out

debt + enrollment · Closed

SG-056 · 1994

HBCU · Tennessee

Morristown College — Half a Million Bricks, and Nothing Left Standing

finances + enrollment · Closed

SG-058 · 1992

Presbyterian college · Missouri

Tarkio College — A Century of Thrift, Undone by a Decade of Borrowed Students

debt + aid scandal · Closed

FB-040 · 1988

Liberal-arts & aviation college · New Hampshire

Nathaniel Hawthorne College — A Fly-In College Grounded by $4 Million in Debt

Insolvency + lost backer · Closed

SG-059 · 1988

HBCU · Texas

Bishop College — A Century of Black Texas Learning, Closed Owing More Than It Could Pay

debt + lost accreditation · Closed

SG-060 · 1988

Catholic women's college · Colorado

Loretto Heights College — A Hilltop Women’s College the Sisters Sold to Stay Solvent

enrollment decline + sale · Closed

FB-041 · 1983

Liberal-arts college · Maine

Nasson College — Closed in 1983, Ordered Reopened by a Court, Gone Anyway

Insolvency + enrollment · Closed

SG-062 · 1981

HBCU junior college · South Carolina

Friendship College — The College Whose Students Chose the Jail, Then Lost the College

finances + enrollment · Closed

FB-042 · 1978

Liberal-arts college · Vermont

Windham College — A Vietnam-Era Boomtown College That the Peace Killed

Enrollment collapse + debt · Closed

FB-044 · 1975

Liberal-arts college · Nebraska

John F. Kennedy College — A Draft-Era Startup That Won at Softball and Lost at Solvency

Insolvency + enrollment · Closed

SG-065 · 1975

Historically Black college · North Carolina

Kittrell College — Ninety Years of Black Education in the Segregated South, Ended by Debt and Fire

finances + lost accreditation · Closed

FB-047 · 1970

Liberal-arts college · Michigan

Mackinac College — An Idealists’ College on an Island That Graduated One Class and Closed