Hope International University of Fullerton, Calif., plans to close Nebraska Christian College at the end of the spring semester, just a few years after acquiring the Nebraska institution in 2016 through a merger. The move is a result of the same financial pressures bearing down on small, private, Christian institutions nationwide, according to a statement from the chair of Hope International’s Board of Trustees, Toby Yurek. The Nebraska location was operating at losses deemed...

Two single-sex institutions in Minnesota are moving toward having only one president. The College of St. Benedict and St. John's University expect to announce a search for a new joint president later in the year, the St. Cloud Times reported [1], citing a Thursday memo. The idea still needs legal, governance and accreditor sign-off. Each institution would maintain a separate identity under the plan. They currently share academic programming. "A single leader would provide a more integrated...

Another bond ratings agency is predicting that the recently signed federal stimulus package will not provide enough relief to colleges and universities to offset the combination of revenue being lost and expenses that are increasing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The higher education sector is experiencing prorated declines in some student fees along with an increase in operating expenses driven in part by the shift to online learning, Fitch Ratings said in a note released today. That puts...

Moody’s Investors Service expects the coronavirus outbreak to have a negative effect on higher education worldwide for the next year, it said in a report out today. Universities will face lower student demand and lost income, according to the bond ratings agency. Public institutions in the United States are at higher risk than others around the world in part because of the potential for government funding cuts. Lower investment income could also affect U.S. universities disproportionately...

The Association of American Medical Colleges is calling for a national standardized data collection system to accurately capture information about race, ethnicity, social conditions and environmental conditions affecting the spread of illness. That call comes in light of the coronavirus pandemic laying bare social, economic and health inequities, the AAMC said in a news release. The association went on to recommend capturing community-level data showing the neighborhoods to which COVID-19...