Why more and more colleges are closing down across America

The mid-2010′s saw an uptick in U.S. college closures, particularly among private nonprofit schools. This trend has affected tens of thousands of college students across the country. Since 2016, 91 U.S. private colleges have closed, merged with another school, or announced plans to close, according to a CNBC analysis of data from Higher Ed Dive. Almost half of those schools closed after the onset of the Covid pandemic in 2020. For many struggling schools the pandemic was the final straw — but two major themes showed up consistently throughout the closures: finances and enrollment.