Two small Christian colleges announced this month that they will permanently close at the end of the 2025-26 academic year, the latest casualties in a wave of financial distress hitting small private institutions across the country.
Lourdes University, a Catholic and Franciscan liberal arts school in Sylvania, Ohio, announced Feb. 11 that it will shut down after the current academic year, citing declining enrollment, rising operational costs, and what its Board of Trustees described as "a funding model that is no longer sustainable." The news came just days after Providence Christian College, a small Reformed Christian institution in Pasadena, Calif., announced Feb. 7 that its board had voted to close, also pointing to low enrollment and the prohibitive cost of operating in Southern California.
Together, the closures underscore the precarious financial position facing many small, faith-based institutions that have struggled to attract enough students to sustain operations.
Lourdes, located in Lucas County outside Toledo, enrolled 655 graduate and undergraduate students at the time of its announcement and employed 136 full- and part-time faculty and staff. Providence enrolled just 168 students last fall, according to federal data, and carried an endowment of only $25,322 while operating at a nearly $1 million loss in fiscal year 2024.
"The challenges of ongoing low enrollment coupled with the high expense of operating a college in Southern California were insurmountable factors," Providence President Steven B. Kortenhoeven said in a statement posted to the college's website.
At Lourdes, the announcement was shared with faculty and staff during a campus meeting on Feb. 11. A town hall with students was scheduled for the following evening, and a virtual meeting with parents was planned for the following week. On the heels of the closure announcement, President William J. Bisset stepped down and was replaced by Dr. Nancy Linenkugel, one of the Sisters of St. Francis who oversee the institution. Linenkugel, who becomes the university's 13th and final president, said her immediate priority is supporting students, faculty, and staff through the transition.
"Right now, our immediate priority is supporting students, faculty and staff through this transition, and ensuring they are able to complete their academic pathways with clarity, dignity and care," Linenkugel said.
