Scarcely a week goes by without a headline about the unsustainability of higher education as we know it, under threat from new models, for-profits, or online education. Most threatened are small liberal arts colleges--with commentators predicting the demise of colleges with fewer than 1,000, or even 1,500 students. Are these trends inevitable, or…

This article presents the story of Wilson College, the only college in the United States where a group of alumnae took the trustees to court over the issue of the announced closing and won the case. The court reversed the trustees' decision on the grounds that the college had failed to seek approval from the court before announcing the change in…

Certain higher-education institutions are at risk in 2007 and beyond, according to Moody's Investors Service, which gauges colleges' financial health. They include small private colleges with limited geographic draw, colleges with ambitious spending plans to improve their national reputations, and regional public universities that face heavy…

This paper examines the role of formal and informal sources of information in a higher education governing board's decision to close its doors, merge with another institution, or continue to struggle for independent survival. Answers to the deciding questions were found in the shared experiences of governing board members as they confronted…

Some advice is offered to trustees who find themselves in the position of having to close an institution in the face of seemingly conflicting legal standards. (Author/MLW)

After a period of rapid expansion, two-thirds of the branch campuses of United States universities in Japan have closed. A study suggests that the branch campuses were established largely to capitalize on short-term political, demographic, and financial factors, with little benefit. A deeper commitment to sustaining the overseas program and to…

This book discusses the early indicators of a college or university's need for a turnaround. It outlines financial trends and other indicators of distress, as well as benchmarks for the various stages of an effective turnaround strategy. The book will help trustees, presidents, and faculty members diagnose whether they are in denial about the true…

Joseph Perkins argued in the "Wall Street Journal" that one-third of the 100 traditionally Black colleges should become two-year institutions. This rebuttal suggests that Black institutions' survival involves planning for new and broader missions in an unsheltered, integrated, competitive environment. (MLW)

Discusses factors influencing the survival of library schools and how innovation of curricular changes to expand programs and incorporate technologies affects continued feasibility. Findings indicate that public governance, bureaucratic entrenchment, institutional age, and moderation in innovation positively affect survival. (23 references) (EA)

Nearly 11 years ago trustees of Wilson College (Pennsylvania) voted to close the institution. A group of alumnae brought a lawsuit to keep the college open, and since then the college's programs have been transformed to meet the changing interests and ages of its students. A division of continuing studies was created. (MLW)

The radical restructuring of Alaska's public higher education system brought on by the state's 1986 economic collapse is discussed. The plan called for a merger of 11 community colleges with three universities into three multi-campus institutions. It realigned statewide programs in vocational technical education, fisheries and ocean sciences,…

Problems and controversies involving public black colleges are reported in the context of the recent Supreme Court decision suggesting states should merge historically black colleges with geographically close, predominantly white institutions. In some cases white political leaders are blamed for potential closures of vulnerable institutions.…