Blog
Honest writing about campus closures, community transformation, and the future of small colleges — for the people making the hardest decisions.
2026-09-02 · Jeff Ritter
Three colleges that were genuinely dying and genuinely came back. What they did, what it cost, and the pattern nobody in higher ed wants to talk about.
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2026-09-01 · Jeff Ritter
Steven Shulman’s financial analysis shows that mid-size, well-known colleges are running out of cash too. They should know how to fix this. Most of them can’t. Here’s why — and what a real transformation looks like.
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2026-08-18 · Jeff Ritter
Your campus has empty buildings, unused land, parking lots nobody fills, dorms at half capacity, and sports fields going to seed. Somebody needs to walk that ground, scan the economic landscape, and find the partners who’ll pay to use it. That person does not exist at your institution. We know, because we looked.
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2026-07-16 · Jeff Ritter
When a vintage motorcycle won’t start, the owner always blames the carburetor. When a college is in trouble, the board always blames enrollment. Both are wrong — and the real problem has been getting worse while everyone was looking at the wrong part.
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2026-07-11 · Jeff Ritter
A board self-assessment for trustees of colleges facing structural financial stress. The duty of care requires a board to be informed of all material alternatives before a consequential decision. Score each question honestly.
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2026-07-11 · Jeff Ritter
First in a series about the leaders who faced the numbers early — and came out heroes to their communities instead of defendants of their legacies. The Marygrove story is the most important case study in American higher education that most trustees have never studied.
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2026-07-11 · Jeff Ritter
First in a series reconstructing real college closures decision-point by decision-point. Iowa Wesleyan’s enrollment was rising when it closed. If your board’s survival theory is "we just need to get enrollment growing again," this is the case that breaks it.
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2026-06-15 · Jeff Ritter
Colleges that were once places of innovation and tradition are closing at a rate of two per week. We treat bridges as infrastructure but let campuses be demolished. A national education policy framework for what comes next.
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2026-05-26 · Jeff Ritter
The decision to transform a campus is the right decision for the community. It's often the wrong decision for the people who have to make it. That's the problem nobody is willing to name.
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2026-05-21 · Jeff Ritter
A small university in rural Indiana just suspended all undergraduate programs. Employees face layoff. But major manufacturers nearby have invested hundreds of millions. The campus is worth more than the college.
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2026-05-17 · Jeff Ritter
Google's new AI fellowship pairs provosts with Gemini to "transform" higher ed. But for colleges already in trouble, AI is frosting on a cake that no longer exists. The real transformation nobody wants to talk about.
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2026-05-11 · Jeff Ritter
Public schools are shrinking. Colleges are closing. The buildings are still there. What if we stopped waiting for the grim reaper and started planning the next chapter while there's still time?
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2026-05-06 · Jeff Ritter
Many colleges are in trouble. But a closure doesn't have to be the end. With bold leadership, a closing campus can become something far bigger.
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2026-05-08 · Jeff Ritter
Most boards of trustees get enrollment reports, financial statements, and retention numbers. What they don't get is anyone telling them there's a third option between "cut more" and "close."
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