Dive Brief:
- Mills College, which has undergraduate programs for women and a co-ed graduate school, is struggling with a host of financial and leadership problems, leading some to worry about closure.
- Inside Higher Ed reports the college president will not renew her five-year contract when it expires next year, and faculty have considered a no-confidence vote in her leadership.
- Enrollment is down and tuition is up, as are tuition credits, and Moody’s has downgraded the college’s credit rating to one step above junk status, according to the article.
Dive Insight:
The pre-emptive closing of peer women’s college Sweet Briar in March has fed the worry about Mills College’s future. Sweet Briar closed with more than $80 million in its endowment but, like Mills, the use of most of that money was restricted by donors who gave it. According to Inside Higher Ed, Mills College has been spending down its endowment, which is now valued at $189 million, $34 million less than it was before the recession. Talk of its impending closure is certainly premature, however.