When Two Become One

"We have 6,000 institutions of higher education in this country, and not all of them are going to make it out of the next decade. And quite honestly, not all of them need to make it out of the next decade, or should."

"Multiple speakers noted more than once that we have too many institutions. Some estimate that 400 colleges are teetering on the brink at this moment. The majority of them are private nonprofit institutions that are overly dependent on dwindling tuition dollars."

"Greater collaboration in higher ed is also something both parties in Washington are eager to see. Kent said he wanted institutions to partner with lower-resourced peers in their region to help with some back-office supports and support services."

Higher education leaders gathered at George Mason University to discuss mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships—a topic previously considered taboo in academia. The consensus among attendees is that many colleges will not survive the next five years, with approximately 400 private nonprofit institutions facing closure due to declining tuition revenue. Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent acknowledged that not all 6,000 U.S. higher education institutions need to survive the coming decade. Both political parties support greater institutional collaboration, with the administration planning to ease regulatory requirements around consolidation and mergers. These regulatory changes aim to simplify the approval process, which had become more burdensome under previous Biden-era policies requiring rigorous two-step approvals.

Read at Inside Higher Ed | Higher Education News, Events and Jobs