Small colleges will close. With courage, we can turn them into workforce dynamos.
Higher ed in Western Pennsylvania, and the nation generally, is headed for a shakeout. But we can convert campuses into catalysts that would reach more people, across more life stages, in more useful ways than a small liberal arts college ever could.
Many small colleges in the United States are in trouble. Low endowments, high debt, weak retention and dwindling enrollment have collided with the demographic cliff, the AI revolution and the college loan crisis. Two small colleges in Massachusetts recently announced upcoming closures. Another announced bankruptcy without closing — yet.
The closure of a small college is not the end of a region’s educational and economic future. With bold leadership, it can be the beginning of something far bigger and create an institution with greater reach, deeper community impact and a more durable economic role than a small college ever played.
I taught for over 25 years, mostly at La Roche University, and for most of that time it was one of the best jobs in the country. That era isn’t coming back, and that’s OK. The things that made those institutions special — the people, the buildings, the community trust, the regional relationships, the accreditation infrastructure — can now do something much bigger than they ever did as a college.
Forbes studied college finances and in 2024 gave 18 Pennsylvania schools D grades, the lowest rating and reflecting “serious financial vulnerability.” Based on the federal data the magazine used, which covered the fiscal year 2021-22, four universities in Allegheny County were at risk, plus five others in Western Pennsylvania. The conventional framing treats this as an economic apocalypse with lost jobs, dried-up student spending, hollowed-out main streets, hard-to-repurpose campuses. All true, if the schools simply close.
But what if they don’t simply close? A small college serves maybe 1,500 students between 18 and 22, four years at a time. A regional workforce and creative development catalyst, built on the same campus, with much of the same talent, could serve multiples of that enrollment, from high schoolers to retirees, from job seekers to entrepreneurs to professionals retraining for the AI economy. It could run apprenticeships with named regional employers, house a small-business incubator, operate AI literacy programs, and host creative studios for film, design, music and fabrication that double as economic engines. It could partner with K-12 districts to build pipelines starting in middle school.
This isn’t a wild-eyed radical pipe dream either. Many of these ideas are germinating in places like the Marygrove Conservancy (formerly Marygrove College) in Michigan and would fit in at workforce and human capital development meetings happening across in the country.
What’s described above is not a college. It’s a true workforce and creative development catalyst for a town and a region. It reaches more people, across more life stages, in more useful ways than a small liberal arts college ever could. And a struggling college is uniquely positioned to become a workforce hub. The campus is there. The trust is there. The relationships are there. What’s missing is the imagination and the courage to stop preserving the old thing, let go of the org chart and the ego, and start building the new one.
The alternative is waiting for the demographic cliff to be somehow gentler than projected, then announcing closure in a press release thanking everyone for “150 years of service.” That isn’t a strategy. It’s a forecast.
Towns and regions don’t need their small colleges to survive in their current form. They need them to lead a transformation into something with greater reach and greater purpose. The boards and presidents who see that clearly, and act while they still have runway, are the ones who get to write a different ending and a new story for the whole community.
The work will be hard and, inevitably, traumatic. Yet, building a flexible, collaborative and community-centered organization designed for the 21st and 22nd centuries is the only way forward. That transformation must begin now.
Jeff Ritter is a retired professor and ed-tech entrepreneur who is the founder and chief learning officer at TransformLearning, and can be reached at jeff@yourclassroom.ai.
MORE STORIES
This story was made possible by donations to our independent, nonprofit newsroom.
Can you help us keep going with a gift?
We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source. Since 2011, we’ve taken pride in serving our community by delivering accurate, timely, and impactful journalism — without paywalls. We believe that everyone deserves access to information about local decisions and events that affect them.
But it takes a lot of resources to produce this reporting, from compensating our staff, to the technology that brings it to you, to fact-checking every line, and much more. Reader support is crucial to our ability to keep doing this work.
If you learned something new from this story, consider supporting us with a donation today. Your donation helps ensure that everyone in Allegheny County can stay informed about issues that impact their lives. Thank you for your support!
You may republish this Pittsburgh's Public Source story in full online or in print under the conditions stated below. You may also choose to republish the first 12 paragraphs with imagery and link to PublicSource for the full story.
All you need to do is copy the HTML code we provide on this page and paste it into your CMS. We strongly encourage you to copy the code and paste it directly into a code editor. In Wordpress, press the three dots in the upper right of the Post and choose Code editor. That should give you the story text, along with photos from the body of the article.
Here are your obligations under our republishing guidelines:
Give us credit, in this format: “by [Author Name(s)], Pittsburgh's Public Source”.
Include a line at the top of the story that reads: “Pittsburgh's Public Source is an independent nonprofit newsroom serving the Pittsburgh region. Sign up for our free newsletters.”
In the html code of the page, include a line of javascript that helps us keep track of hits. It’s already in the code below.
Let us know when you use our work by sending an email to natasha@publicsource.org.
By republishing our story, you agree to the following conditions:
You can’t edit, cut or alter the story, except to suit your in-house style (e.g. % vs. “percent,” honorifics, etc).
You must not resell the story or sell ads against the story. It’s fine to publish the story on a page that’s surrounded by previously sold ads, however.
Please exclude our work from being published or syndicated to third-party platforms or apps like Newsbreak under your publication name, when possible
If you share the story or a link to the story on social media, please tag us on Twitter (@publicsourcepa), Instagram (@publicsource), Facebook (@publicsource) or TikTok (@publicsource).
We reserve the right to deny, revoke or limit the rights conveyed herein for any reason, including (but not limited to) instances in which these conditions are not met or the reproduced material is not presented in a responsible manner.
Small colleges will close. With courage, we can turn them into workforce dynamos.
by Guest commentary by Jeff Ritter, Pittsburgh's Public Source June 5, 2026
1
Join the Pittsburghers who want more from their news.
Small colleges will close. With courage, we can turn them into workforce dynamos.
Share this:
Many small colleges in the United States are in trouble. Low endowments, high debt, weak retention and dwindling enrollment have collided with the demographic cliff, the AI revolution and the college loan crisis. Two small colleges in Massachusetts recently announced upcoming closures. Another announced bankruptcy without closing — yet.
The closure of a small college is not the end of a region’s educational and economic future. With bold leadership, it can be the beginning of something far bigger and create an institution with greater reach, deeper community impact and a more durable economic role than a small college ever played.
I taught for over 25 years, mostly at La Roche University, and for most of that time it was one of the best jobs in the country. That era isn’t coming back, and that’s OK. The things that made those institutions special — the people, the buildings, the community trust, the regional relationships, the accreditation infrastructure — can now do something much bigger than they ever did as a college.
Forbes studied college finances and in 2024 gave 18 Pennsylvania schools D grades, the lowest rating and reflecting “serious financial vulnerability.” Based on the federal data the magazine used, which covered the fiscal year 2021-22, four universities in Allegheny County were at risk, plus five others in Western Pennsylvania. The conventional framing treats this as an economic apocalypse with lost jobs, dried-up student spending, hollowed-out main streets, hard-to-repurpose campuses. All true, if the schools simply close.
But what if they don’t simply close? A small college serves maybe 1,500 students between 18 and 22, four years at a time. A regional workforce and creative development catalyst, built on the same campus, with much of the same talent, could serve multiples of that enrollment, from high schoolers to retirees, from job seekers to entrepreneurs to professionals retraining for the AI economy. It could run apprenticeships with named regional employers, house a small-business incubator, operate AI literacy programs, and host creative studios for film, design, music and fabrication that double as economic engines. It could partner with K-12 districts to build pipelines starting in middle school.
This isn’t a wild-eyed radical pipe dream either. Many of these ideas are germinating in places like the Marygrove Conservancy (formerly Marygrove College) in Michigan and would fit in at workforce and human capital development meetings happening across in the country.
What’s described above is not a college. It’s a true workforce and creative development catalyst for a town and a region. It reaches more people, across more life stages, in more useful ways than a small liberal arts college ever could. And a struggling college is uniquely positioned to become a workforce hub. The campus is there. The trust is there. The relationships are there. What’s missing is the imagination and the courage to stop preserving the old thing, let go of the org chart and the ego, and start building the new one.
The alternative is waiting for the demographic cliff to be somehow gentler than projected, then announcing closure in a press release thanking everyone for “150 years of service.” That isn’t a strategy. It’s a forecast.
Towns and regions don’t need their small colleges to survive in their current form. They need them to lead a transformation into something with greater reach and greater purpose. The boards and presidents who see that clearly, and act while they still have runway, are the ones who get to write a different ending and a new story for the whole community.
The work will be hard and, inevitably, traumatic. Yet, building a flexible, collaborative and community-centered organization designed for the 21st and 22nd centuries is the only way forward. That transformation must begin now.
Jeff Ritter is a retired professor and ed-tech entrepreneur who is the founder and chief learning officer at TransformLearning, and can be reached at jeff@yourclassroom.ai.
MORE STORIES
This story was made possible by donations to our independent, nonprofit newsroom.
Can you help us keep going with a gift?
We’re Pittsburgh’s Public Source. Since 2011, we’ve taken pride in serving our community by delivering accurate, timely, and impactful journalism — without paywalls. We believe that everyone deserves access to information about local decisions and events that affect them.
But it takes a lot of resources to produce this reporting, from compensating our staff, to the technology that brings it to you, to fact-checking every line, and much more. Reader support is crucial to our ability to keep doing this work.
If you learned something new from this story, consider supporting us with a donation today. Your donation helps ensure that everyone in Allegheny County can stay informed about issues that impact their lives. Thank you for your support!
MOST READ STORIES