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The third-oldest college in California does not plan to enroll any new students this summer or fall and is building out transfer options for current students unable to finish their degrees by the end of spring 2021, it announced Monday.
Notre Dame de Namur University’s Board of Trustees made the decision at its most recent meeting. A news release left open the possibility of some sort of continued operation for the 169-year-old university, saying the board did not make a final decision about the institution’s future.
The wind-down plans come as the university is squeezed by declining enrollment, falling net tuition revenue and rising costs. It cast its decision as conserving resources for current students who can earn degrees within the next full academic year.
Students who are in good academic standing and on pace to finish their degrees by the end of the spring 2021 semester will be provided with “a structured and well-supported pathway to earn their degrees” from Notre Dame de Namur.
“Because the Board wants to conserve NDNU’s limited financial resources to support those students, and because the Board believes that the university’s state does not permit it to give the appropriate assurances of support to new students, NDNU will not enroll any new students for summer or fall 2020,” the university news release said. “Accepting new students under our current circumstances would be unfair to them.”
The university is also discontinuing intercollegiate sports programs at the end of the current semester. It plans to continue seeking funding, partnerships or other proposals that could make it viable going forward.
