According to the Women’s College Coalition, 50 years ago there were 230 women’s colleges in the United States. After Sweet Briar closes, there will be 41.
On Feb. 28, 2015, the board of directors of Sweet Briar College, a century-old liberal arts institution near the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, voted to close the college at the end of this academic year citing “insurmountable financial challenges.” The news shook not only the students, faculty and others associated with Sweet Briar, but the world of women’s colleges. Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia, soon put out a statement on its website reaffirming its institutional strength and extending a welcome to Sweet Briar students.
Agnes Scott President Elizabeth Kiss says the college has received more than 100 inquiries so far and is now officially a teach-out school, easing the transfer process for Sweet Briar students in good academic standing.
A teach-out agreement exists between a school that is closing and a school that will teach out the closing school’s students. The school that will receive the students applies for formal recognition and an agreement is made. Both Hollins University and Agnes Scott quickly reached teach-out agreements with Sweet Briar to allay the fears of current Sweet Briar students.
A nonprofit group calling itself Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. is fighting the closure of Sweet Briar College. Last month, they announced that the group’s legal counsel found evidence that Sweet Briar administrators violated Virginia law and called for the resignation of interim president James F. Jones Jr. and members of the board of directors.
A forensic accountant hired by Saving Sweet Briar, Inc. to review the finances of Sweet Briar College completed an initial review in early April and found that, as of August 2014, the college’s financial condition was stable and did not back the decision to shutter the college.
Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, about 90 minutes from Sweet Briar, is prepared to accept Sweet Briar students as of the fall term.
