Enrollment Loss, Financial Woes an Increasing Problem at US Colleges

National student research center: College and university enrollment has decreased by about 1.5 million students, or 7.4 percent, in the past decade.

The administration building at Cazenovia College has remained vacant since the four-year school in upstate New York closed in May 2023. A portion of the campus has since been leased to the New York State Police, which operates a training academy there. Aaron Gifford / The Epoch Times

Before Cazenovia College in upstate New York closed in May 2023 because of decreasing enrollment and financial problems, students were given a list of comparable schools in the same region with similar tuition fees, major courses of study, financial aid availability, and athletic programs.

One of the schools on that list, Wells College, shut down one year later for the same reasons—low enrollment (354 students) and financial problems.