2022_09_New_Jersey_Monthly
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To the Rescue<br />
Small colleges are struggling with reduced resources and other<br />
challenges in a changing landscape. wILL THEY SURVIVE?<br />
M<br />
ontclair State University has<br />
thrown a multimillion-dollar lifeline<br />
to Bloomfield College, agreeing<br />
to provide financial support<br />
for the struggling private school to stay open during<br />
the <strong>2022</strong>-2023 school year as the schools hash<br />
out the details of a more permanent arrangement<br />
that could include a merger.<br />
In June, Rider University in Lawrenceville announced<br />
deep program cuts and layoffs to address<br />
a $20 million deficit after an earlier plan to sell its<br />
venerable Westminster Choir College fell apart.<br />
These are tough times for some small private<br />
By Kathleen Lynn and Patricia Alex<br />
colleges and universities in <strong>New</strong> <strong>Jersey</strong> and<br />
around the nation. Many have been forced to cut<br />
staffing and programs or sell property following<br />
a decade of enrollment declines. Those losses<br />
accelerated during the pandemic, destabilizing<br />
the tuition-dependent schools.<br />
“Net revenue is stagnant or declining, and<br />
[the schools] are being asked to do ever more,<br />
even before you consider inflation,” says Susan<br />
Fitzgerald, associate managing director<br />
of Moody’s, the credit-rating agency. “They’re<br />
being squeezed on both sides—on the income<br />
side and the expense side.”<br />
ILLUSTRATION BY ANNA GODEASSI<br />
68 SEPTEMBER <strong>2022</strong> NJMONTHLY.COM