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Ursuline College in Ohio and Gannon University in Pennsylvania—two Catholic institutions separated by less than 100 miles—announced Monday that they are exploring a strategic partnership.
The two institutions have already approved a letter of intent, which officials said in a statement “is just one step in an 18- to 24-month process”; now the due diligence phase gets underway. Discussions have been ongoing since spring, according to Ursuline’s website.
Gannon also has a campus in Florida, which means the new institution would be spread across three states.
“Today, we are joining our stories. One will not erase the other. Instead, together, we will begin crafting the next version of ourselves,” Gannon president Walter Iwaneko Jr. said in a statement.
Neither university used the term “merger” in their respective statements.
“The landscape in higher education, particularly private liberal arts schools, is changing rapidly,” Ursuline College president David King said in an announcement Monday. “Our leadership has taken a proactive approach to embark on a new path that educates our students for generations to come and preserves our traditions and mission.”
Of the two institutions, Gannon appears stronger in terms of enrollment and finances. It enrolled 4,665 students in fall 2022, according to federal data, compared to 950 for Ursuline. Gannon has also consistently produced positive revenue over the last decade while Ursuline has operated at a loss in four of the last 10 fiscal years, according to public financial documents.
The potential partnership comes as private institutions in both Ohio and Pennsylvania have struggled; earlier this year, Notre Dame College, a Catholic institution roughly 10 minutes away from Ursuline, shuttered abruptly due to financial issues.
