When a college town loses its college, it's hard to pick up the pieces; some schools close their doors, some fight on

Montgomery, W. Va., Mayor Greg Ingram walks where the stands of the
WVU Tech football field once stood. (Photo by Nick Fouriezos via The Daily Yonder)

When a rural community's higher-education institution closes, the area becomes vulnerable to a long list of bad outcomes, and many institutions are floundering "as pandemic relief funds have dried up and enrollments remain low at many rural institutions," reports Nick Fouriezos of Open Campus.

"Fears are sprouting up in Mount Pleasant, a city of less than 9,000 people in southeastern Iowa. There, Iowa Wesleyan College shut its doors in May, which means roughly 1,000 faculty, staff, and students will likely leave soon, too." Mount Pleasant need only look at what happened in Montgomery, West Virginia when WVU Tech left the town: "Suddenly, 1,500 students were gone. More than 100 staff and faculty moved out," Fouriezos writes for Open Campus. "The bar and the car dealership closed. The grocery store, too. And it was only going to get worse, locals knew." 

Randy Neff, a Mount Pleasant resident who previously served as the chief financial officer for Iowa Wesleyan, told Fouriezos, "You lose 11-12% of your population just suddenly like that, it has an enormous impact. . . .The college has had financial issues for many, many decades. . . . [But now] those students will now all be gone." Fouriezos reports, "As will the many cultural events the college brought, including speakers, plays, and symphony orchestras. The Department of Agriculture, which loaned Iowa Wesleyan $26 million in 2016, is now working with local officials to decide what happens to the empty campus in the heart of the city's downtown." (Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was mayor of the town from 1997 to 1992 and secretary in 2016. --Editor)

Rural college towns may be unable to adapt and many "can sometimes be limited in their options, particularly when decisions about them are being made by educators in other parts of the state," Fouriezos writes. "After celebrating its 112th commencement a month ago, the University of Maine in Machias is facing existential risks from low enrollment and significant faculty turnover. . . . Enrollment numbers have dipped, from around 650 students two decades ago to less than 300 students, says Bob Berta, owner and publisher of County Wide Newspaper in Machias. . . . . Berta believes things at the college could still be turned around, but only if it moved away from being the state's smallest campus to being owned by the local community instead." Berta told Fouriezos: "The college needs to be taken back under control. We are 2% of the state's population living in an area the size of the State of Connecticut."

Americans have become increasingly disenchanted with higher education. "A majority of Americans, across every age group, are now more likely to disagree than agree that a four-year education is worth the cost, according to a Wall Street Journal-NORC poll," Fouriezos reports. This skepticism has hurt college enrollments nationwide, but many rural areas lack the adaptability to combat the the trend. Gordon State College in Barnesville, Georgia, managed to increase its enrollment "by leveraging its community partnerships and effectively balancing a combination of online and in-person students. It added programs that put Gordon State students into the local workforce, giving them valuable on-the-job training and direct pathways to careers that make it possible for hometown kids to stay in the region." While the college is a bright spot, it exemplifies how much work, finesse and resources are required for a struggling institution to survive.