Wave of U.S. College Closures Draws Attention From Study-Abroad Families; 442 Private Colleges Deemed at Risk
Discussion of a wave of U.S. college closures spread across Chinese social media and study-abroad circles on October 15. Chinese media tallies say hundreds of American colleges have shut down over the past decade, some announcing closure just before or even after a term began, leaving students struggling with refunds and with credits that other schools will not accept. For families choosing colleges abroad, a school's financial health has become part of the decision.
U.S. data underline the trend. Figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, cited by Reuters, show that 726 degree-granting institutions closed between 2013 and 2023, about 80 percent of them for-profit. A May report by Huron Consulting Group estimated that 442 of the nation's roughly 1,700 private nonprofit colleges - nearly one in four - stand at the cusp of financial exigency, and that more than 130 private nonprofits announced closures or mergers between 2020 and 2025, affecting nearly 200,000 students.
For students caught in a closure, the fallout is concrete. Reporting by the Hechinger Report found that only about half of students at closing colleges successfully transfer elsewhere, and about half of those who do transfer still never graduate; more than 42 million Americans now have some college credit but no degree. Analysts point to falling birth rates and the resulting enrollment decline, heavy dependence on tuition, and debt burdens as the main pressures on small private colleges.
(Compiled from Reuters, USA Today, the Hechinger Report, and Chinese media reports on October 15)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 弗吉尼亚大学草坪与圆顶大厦，美国高校校园（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Karen Blaha 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0 授权
