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| | | | I've been writing about college and their communities since I came to The Chronicle 20 years ago. Back then, the story was whether higher education could restore economic energy and cultural vibrancy to struggling towns and cities.
Now — because of financial pressures, a demographic squeeze, and increasing skepticism about the value of a degree — it’s about the potentially college-less future of these communities.
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| | | | | | | To try to understand the impact of an expected uptick in college closures on thousands of America’s college towns, I traveled to one, Aurora, N.Y., where Wells College shut its doors last spring after a century and a half.
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| | | | Wells, a liberal-arts institution that was once a women’s college, had just 350 students when it closed; it wasn’t the same economic and employment behemoth as a research university or flagship campus. Yet, as I spent several days reporting in Aurora, it was clear that the town-gown relationship was about much more than dollars and cents.
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| | | | For their communities, colleges can be cultural magnets, neighborhood anchors, gathering spots, partners in solving everyday challenges.
In Aurora, Wells ran the water-treatment plant and housed the community health center. The campus was a haven for runners and dog walkers, a playground for the village’s children. A quarter of volunteers at the fire department were Wells students. One local official compared the closure to a bad breakup.
As I continue to write about colleges and their relationships with the people and places outside the campus gates, here are a few questions I’m thinking about:
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| | | | • | Are there ways that colleges in tough financial and enrollment straits can better prepare their towns and regions for contraction or closure?
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| | | | • | Are there lessons in college closures about how all institutions can be better neighbors? How can college leaders better understand community priorities and build relationships that are strong and sustainable? | |
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| | | | • | With Americans’ perception of higher education being as shaky as some institutions’ finances, could nurturing local ties help rebuild public trust and support?
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| | | | | Do you have thoughts to share? Are there other questions my colleagues and I should be asking? I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at karin.fischer@chronicle.com.
Meanwhile, please check out more Chronicle coverage of higher ed’s public-perception challenges.
As always, thank you for reading.
Karin Fischer
Senior Writer |
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