Small religious colleges struggle to keep their doors open
St. Gregory’s University, Catholic liberal arts college in Oklahoma, will be abruptly closing its doors at the Fall semester’s end.
Duncan Tiemeyer 22, a senior business and theology major from Houston, expressed sorrow for his beloved university closing. He expressed that his school was more than a place of higher education, he told Religious News Service (RNS), “Here, we are taught not only to focus on our five-year plan but also our 100-year plan and our 500-year plan.” He continued, “What are we preparing for? Are we living our lives in a way that is getting us to the next life? Are we going to be able to go to heaven?”
The financially strapped Roman Catholic institution, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City, is just the latest small religious college to close in an increasingly competitive higher education marketplace.
Grace University, a Christian college in Omaha, Neb., will end operations in May, doomed by financial and enrollment challenges.
Marygrove College, a Catholic liberal arts institution in Detroit, will shut down its undergraduate programs in December.
Catholic-affiliated Saint Joseph’s College in Rensselaer, Ind., did not reopen this fall.
Although we have not seen a dramatic action taken by local Catholic universities in Will County, according to The Herald News, there has been a decline in enrollment at the University of St. Francis in Joliet and Lewis University in Romeoville.
According to MarketWatch, a stock market news site, roughly one-third of small private colleges had major operating deficits in 2016, mostly due to a lack of attendance; many individuals cannot afford a private university because a private education is often significantly higher in cost than a public college.
For St. Gregory’s University, they will be focusing on helping current students find new educational homes in its final weeks. St. Gregory’s on-campus missionary, Meg Hunter-Kilmer, told RNS that students should be optimistic and although this life lesson is a heartbreaking one, it can also be a faith builder.
