Big week at College Viability News:   2026 College Majors Completion app for academic leaders and one for students and families.

Plus:  The College Viability Transparency Tool.  

News and commentary this week:

+ A Small University Bet Big on Enrolling Athletes. Now It Will Close.

+ Marshall University cuts women’s swimming team

+ (In the ‘I can’t believe it’s a story’ category and probably not a Pulitzer Journalism Award story:    University of Connecticut, looking to save $1.57M, removes trash cans from many of its offices (Not making this up.)

+ Report from New America: 41 Institutions Steered Low-Income Families to Loans

+ And some more doozy stories that I just didn’t put in today’s headline teaser.

Show notes and links:

A Small University Bet Big on Enrolling Athletes. Now It Will Close

Curry College acquires Labouré, which will shut its doors this summer

Pasadena’s Providence Christian College to Close, After Two Decades

Marshall Sports:  Herd swimming and diving on chopping block, per SI report   

SwimSwam.com story on Marshall swimming team

University of Denver braces for up to a $30 million budget shortfall next year

Students and faculty express concern about layoffs at The College of Wooster

University of New Haven loses thousands of international students due to visa restrictions

University of Connecticut, looking to save $1.57M, removes trash cans from many of its offices

Fitch report on Marshall University

Fitch report on Agnes Scott College

Report: 41 Institutions Steered Low-Income Families to Loans

State approval affirms Rider’s progress under March to Sustainability Plan

This week (February 6, 2026):

+ Southern Oregon University warns of financial crisis by early 2027.  Some interesting mea cuplas.

+ Buffalo State program cuts spark strong reactions from students

+ Oklahoma Governor Nixes Tenure At Most Of The State’s Public Colleges

+  Inside the collapse of California College of the Arts: School gambled on a major campus expansion and lost.  There may be more to it than that.

+ And much, much, more.

Show notes:

If you want to get the weekly College Financial Transparency update, click here.

Southern Oregon University warns of financial crisis, payroll risk by early 2027

5 layoffs as Idaho Statue U. axes College of Education, splits biology department in mass restructuring

Santa Monica College to eliminate more than 70 jobs despite pushback from staff, students

Buffalo State program cuts spark strong reactions from students

UA Little Rock Continues Enrollment Growth for Spring 2026

Niagara University Reports 73% Surge in Spring Transfer Enrollment

Fitch Downgrades Manhattan University (NY) to 'BBB-'; Outlook Negative

International Graduate Enrollment Is Falling Off a Cliff

More Colleges Are Using Direct Admissions. They’re Still Discovering What Makes It Successful

Inside the collapse of California College of the Arts: School gambled on a major campus expansion and lost

Oklahoma Governor Nixes Tenure At Most Of The State’s Public Colleges

The Campaign to Make Professors Teach More

This week's show includes stories and commentary on 
+ Iowa universities reviewing low-enrollment majors, could close or merge programs

+ Wintertime spin on enrollment number for an IL public college

+ Averett College (VA) Sells Athletic Facilities

+ Be careful letting your sons and daughters consider Naturopathic medicine

Show Notes and Links:

Iowa universities reviewing low-enrollment majors, could close or merge programs

Oregon State University faces uncertain financial future amid enrollment decline, budget cuts

SIUE plugs Spring Enrollment.  Ignores 4-year graduation rates

Men are opting out of college. New England’s campuses are missing them.

Averett Sells Athletic Facilities

Are Naturopathic medicine colleges in trouble.  Ryan Hofer Substack post.

A perspective on the enrollment cliff, or slope or downturn, or plummet

Interested in the weekly College Financial Health Report Newsletter?  Click here.

Here are the headlines stories from this week's podcast.

+ Taking a look at Acupuncture and Naturopathy colleges
+ Iowa joins the ‘cut low enrollment majors club

+ Iowa private colleges promise closures if community colleges start offering bachelor degrees

+ Whistleblower: OU dental school prioritizing high-tuition foreign students as some Oklahomans get squeezed out

Show notes and links.

Wichita State budget deficit now expected to be 7%.

Ryan Hofer at Substack:  “Debt by Natural Causes”

University of Iowa considers cutting low-enrollment majors

Governor Murphy Signs Law Advancing Kean–NJCU Merger, Transforming Higher Education in New Jersey

Morningside University, St. Luke’s College complete first stage of acquisition

Quarter of US colleges could close in the coming years, university president warns of major transformation

Iowa private colleges promise closures if community colleges start offering bachelor degrees

Whistleblower: OU dental school prioritizing high-tuition foreign students as some Oklahomans get squeezed out

TWICV News and Commentary for January 19, 2026

This is the podcast that talks about the financial health and viability of public and private colleges with data, details and perspectives offered nowhere else.

This week:

+ California College of the Arts, Will Close in 2027

+ Hampshire College warned of potential closure by auditors

+ After Protests Over Cuts, Mary Baldwin U.'s President Resigns and Some Minors Are Restored

+ A company helping colleges avoid reinventing the wheel.

+ Another state talks public college consolidation

+ And, of course, much more.

Make sure to forward the podcast link to your Higher Education friends.  No sense in just you getting latest news and commentary on the whole industry

Want to start your own podcast, I use Riverside.fm.  Click here to get access to start your show.

Show notes:

San Francisco’s Last Remaining Private Art School, the California College of the Arts, Will Close in 2027

What We Will Lose When California College of the Arts Closes

UT-Arlington offers employee buyouts amid federal funding cuts, officials say

Hampshire College warned of potential closure by auditors

A College Missed Its Enrollment Goal by Nearly Half. What Happened?

After Protests Over Cuts, Mary Baldwin U.'s President Resigns and Some Minors Are Restored

5 Fall 2025 Enrollment Takeaways

How Oregon’s top higher ed board wants to solve university deficits

This week:

+ Closed college bails on faculty and students.  Don’t let this happen to you.

+ Universities cut over 9,000 jobs in 2025

+  How about a public college that graduated 6% of its students in 2023 getting public funds to build a multi-million dollar STEM building?

+ Is there a coordinated effort by some in higher education to write stories trying to deny that the industry is in decline?

INTRO:   Always add:  forward podcast link to your Higher Education friends.  No sense in just you getting latest news and commentary on the whole industry

Show notes and link:
Free MyCollegeViabilty.com financial health report on private colleges

Start your own podcast.  I use Riverside.fm.  Here is a link.

Now I have to start over' | Students left in dark after Martin University closes

Struggling Western Mass. college misses enrollment goal by half

Universities cut over 9,000 jobs in 2025 as Trump targets federal funding: report

Rider University Creates $2M ‘Hope’ Fund to Help Students Pay Tuition as it Faces Cuts, Layoffs

UC San Diego math weakness story has legs.

After No-Confidence Vote, University Of Nebraska Chancellor To Resign

The college backlash is a mirage

The curious disconnect between the data and the vibes of higher education

Sitting in front of the Blue Yeti microphone and the smooth running Riverside.fm podcast software.

As ‘Your College Financial Quality Control Advocate’  This is the podcast that talks about the financial health and viability of public and private colleges with data, details and perspectives offered nowhere else.  I talk about delusional colleges, regurgitation reporting, 

And College Viability is Higher Education’s NORAD.  Our data radar tells you which incoming colleges are risky and which will safely deliver an education package.

Today:

+ Martin University terminates staff (without pay), encourages students to transfer

+ Rider University (NJ)  placed on probation

+ A potential college president foot-in-mouth story

+ Another college tries to spin bad news into a ‘Comeback kid’ kind of story

+ From Dow Jones Market Watch and Morningstar:  ‘They're in their 60s and still paying off student loans. College debt in America now lasts a lifetime.’

INTRO:   Always add:  forward podcast link to your Higher Education friends.  No sense in just you getting latest news and commentary on the whole industry

Want to use Riverside.fm for your podcast.  Click here to access.   BTW, I am a new affiliate with Riverside

The final 2025 podcast for This Week in College Viability.

This is the podcast that talks about the financial health and viability of public and private colleges with data, details and perspectives offered nowhere else.

This week's stories include: 

+  Lots of layoff and cutback stories today

+ A college without a library.  (Bloomberg News story I was quoted in) That is the position that Albright College since 2019

+ Merry Christmas from your friendly accreditor
 
+ College Bankruptcies Are Coming

+ The Higher education market is adjusting:  Case in point:  Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants merger of higher education and labor departments

Show notes and links:

+ Oklahoma regents vote to cut 41 ‘low-producing’ academic programs

+ Enrollment declining at WIU campuses  (Western Illinois University)

+ Martin University’s abrupt closure disrupts student plans, angers alumni

+ Guilford College comes off accreditor probation after budget cuts

+ Christian Brothers University out of financial probation after 2 years

+ College of Idaho’s ‘shift’ of resources comes with layoffs

+ Why a College Fighting for Survival Is Slashing Econ and Physics Majors

+ The Price of Waiting Too Long to Close

+ College Bankruptcies Are Coming

+ Colorado Gov. Jared Polis wants merger of higher education and labor departments

+ The College Viability Manifesto

Greg Pillar answers these questions on this special podcast episode of 'This Week in College Viability'.

1. "Enrollment teams are obviously focused on hitting the numbers, often relying on GPA and test scores. In your experience, why are those metrics failing to predict a student’s actual readiness for the modern college environment?"

2. "If Enrollment focuses on 'getting them in' and Academics focuses on 'teaching them,' who is responsible for the transition? Where are students falling through the cracks during that hand-off?"

3. "Instructional capacity is often overlooked in the viability conversation. Are we asking faculty to do the impossible by putting modern learners into outdated academic infrastructures?"

4. "Headlines about program cuts are usually framed as 'Faculty vs. Administration.' What is the nuance that the media almost always misses

5. "If a college accepts a student, they are making a promise of viability. Do schools have a moral obligation to stop enrolling students they are not structurally prepared to graduate?"

6. What is the 'tuition mirage'?

7. There was a west coast faculty post today about AI becoming a better teacher than teachers.  That may or may not happen.  Talk us through a scenario what that does happen in higher education.

It is, of course, the holiday season.  Sitting here in front of the Blue Yeti microphone, I have to wonder how many college leadership scrooges are out there.  The Yeti microphone and I look at college finances constantly.  It is almost certain, that even during this holiday season, there are colleges on the brink of announcing they cannot continue.

And on that happy note, this is the podcast that talks about the financial health and viability of public and private colleges with data, details and perspectives offered nowhere else.

This week:

+ Closures, cutbacks, and exigency requests

+ OSU to end 8 majors.  Continuing the recent trend that colleges cannot be everything to everybody

+ 6-year grad rates – are they the standard now?

+ Dysfunctional U (aka University of Tulsa) is exposed in an excellent piece by Megan Zahneis [Zay-knees] Dec 2 in the Chronicle of HE

+ First come closures.  Then come real-estate vultures.

+ 2 college employees (one faculty and one administrator) whine in social media.  That happens all the time.  These two just caught my attention.

+ And more . . .

Show notes and links:

University of Lynchburg offers faculty buyouts to address finances

Here’s what to know about Calvin University’s (MI) 12.5% faculty reduction, program cuts

University of Providence (MT) asks board to allow financial exigency

Ohio State likely to end eight majors, over 350 courses in Senate Bill 1 compliance

U.S. Six-Year College Graduation Rate Stays at 61%

The Ambition Trap How the U. of Tulsa chased enrollment and prestige — but chiefly grew its deficit instead.

The Opportunity in Bankrupt Colleges

LI POST Dr. Crystal E Garcia Associate Professor of Educational Administration at UN Lincoln

How about Whine story #2:  Another LI post

Further Negative Projections for Higher Ed in 2026