Most college students will never experience the fear associated with being notified that you're on academic probation. I, myself, have never come close, but a few of my friends have and the experience is disheartening to say the least. The transition from high school to college/university is a tough one and 20% of students in the United States find themselves on academic probation by the end of their freshman year (source). This doesn't account for those other students who have extenuating circumstances and unfortunate events arising later in their college education that cause academic probation. The frustration and fear associated with realizing just how impactful this can be on not only your academic career, but your future professional career is unimaginable for those students aspiring for more.
Knowing how impactful landing yourself on academic probation can be, now imagine a different scenario: You're a junior studying to be a nurse and will graduate with a BSN in another year. You've worked hard throughout your undergraduate term to keep a 4.0 GPA but have also established a community at your college and have a great support system of close friends and professors. Yesterday morning, you woke up at 7AM to get to that 8AM class on time. On your walk to class, you check your emails and are stopped dead in your tracks. It's an email from the university that the place you've called home for the past 3 years will be closing its doors in May. Which means you won't be spending your senior year here, nor will you earn a degree from the university you chose to attend. What would you do if you woke up tomorrow with this news? How would it affect your academic career, your job, your housing situation, your family, your significant other and your future? Well, this is exactly what happened yesterday to students at Concordia University in Portland. With being such a recent and profound event, I think this is a great topic to bring up and "bring home" - how did this happen? Could this happen to me?
Both faculty members and students were surprised by the sudden announcement, but previous enrollment indicated trouble ahead. In 2014, more than 6,000 graduate students were enrolled in Concordia, but by 2018, that number was 3,800 (source). An almost 40% decline in enrollment put the university in quite a tough financial position. For most larger institutions, this is not a concern - or an immediate one at least.
One study looking at more than half of all 4 year institutions in the U.S. found that in 2002, there were 4.9 million applicants for these institutions. In 2017, that number more than doubled to 10.2 million (source). The money brought in via tuition from these students is a major source of operating funds for those universities. Obviously, not all institutions are as fortunate, as we've seen an average of 10.6 institutions closing per year since 2015 (source),
The reality is that there will always be some colleges and universities closing. I think as prospective students, it is our job to do our due diligence to research our potential universities. Find out what enrollment is like, how it compares to previous years and what funds are coming in to the university. My heart goes out to the students who are dealing with the uproot of their university closing. While the university is working with their students to transfer them to new colleges, this is still a daunting and upsetting situation. With the knowledge that I chose to attend a particular university (for a multitude of reasons) that I have come to know and love and support passionately, I can't imagine what these students are going through. Today I'm reminded to be thankful for where I'm at in my academic career and all of the opportunities that my university provides to me.
