At least 30 US colleges closed last year, after nearly 50 the previous year, as the protections of federal subsidies tied to the Covid pandemic have melted away. Almost all the losses involved private campuses, with the majority of those in the for-profit sector. Yet there are rising signs that state lawmakers – long willing to cut the budgets of their colleges but not actually close them – might be reconsidering that stance. Pennsylvania already is in the middle of a multi-year process of consolidating six public universities into two. Wisconsin officials have taken some steps in that direction and are now talking about doing even more. This year Oklahoma’s governor broached the idea publicly.
