Private colleges on life support

Holy Family College in Manitowoc will shut its door for good at the end of August. It will not be the last Wisconsin college to close since the COVID-19 pandemic struck, only the first. Other Wisconsin colleges are in critical condition. Some will make it out of intensive care alive. Others will not.

What is happening in Wisconsin is not an isolated incident. It is taking place all over the country as private colleges struggle to survive, but Wisconsin is very close to the center of the private college collapse.

“By 2030 over 50% of colleges will collapse,” was the headline in a 2013 article for Business Trends by futurist Thomas Frey.

So far, Frey’s prediction has not come true. Until the COVID-19 outbreak, few experts in higher education agreed with Frey’s prediction. But most believed that Frey was only overstating the percentage, not the general, dire direction. Since the virus outbreak, more experts are increasing their college demise numbers. The heaviest toll may be in the Midwest, including Wisconsin.

Read more: https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/05/05/private-colleges-on-life-support/