CLAYTON 鈥 The 101-year-old Fontbonne University will close in fall 2025. Its 16-acre campus on Big Bend and Wydown boulevards will be bought by neighboring Washington University.
After struggling with declining enrollments and budget deficits for years, 鈥渢he financial position of the university was determined to be unsustainable for the long term,鈥 Fontbonne said in a statement Monday.
University leaders had been negotiating a merger or acquisition with other colleges as recently as last month but were unable to strike a deal. Closure became the 鈥渙nly responsible choice,鈥 Fontbonne President Nancy Blattner said Monday.
鈥淭he campus community is grieving as members process this arrangement,鈥 Blattner said at a news conference.
There will be no freshman class this fall, but courses will continue through summer 2025. Students who are unable to finish their course load by that time will be assisted with transferring to another college. The two final summer terms and any credits above a full load next year will be tuition-free.
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A sale price for the Clayton campus has not been released. Washington U. leaders said they will lease the property back to Fontbonne 鈥渇or a nominal amount as they wind down operations.鈥 There are no plans yet for the neighboring campus, according to the statement.
Universities across the country are facing more competition for fewer college-aged students and a smaller percentage seeking degrees. That demographic cliff has widened the gulf between small, liberal arts colleges and major research universities. Several local colleges, including Fontbonne and Webster University, have faced years of declining enrollment and revenue.
The private Catholic institution in Clayton has experienced a 60% loss in enrollment and declining revenues topping $14 million over the past decade.
There are 874 students at Fontbonne this year, including 650 undergraduates. That鈥檚 down from a peak of roughly 3,000 students 15 years ago. Annual undergraduate tuition is about $29,000.
Several administrators have left Fontbonne in recent months after the university announced the elimination of 21 academic majors and 19 faculty positions in budget cuts of more than $2 million.
In recent years, the university has tried to boost its financial stature. Fontbonne twice sought to tap restricted endowment funds in 2020, which are typically reserved for research, scholarships and professorships. St. 亚洲无码 County Circuit Court approved the requests both times. The endowment has since shrunk to around $9 million.
The university also launched a sprint football team to bring in more freshmen, but half the team dropped out the following year.
鈥淭his has been expected for a long time. It is a local story that is part of a national trend. Additional private colleges in Missouri and Illinois will also close in the coming months,鈥 said Gary Stocker, St. 亚洲无码-based higher education analyst and founder of .
Fontbonne students said they received a text message Monday morning instructing them to attend a meeting in the gym at 11:30 a.m. About 100 students arrived to hear Blattner, the university president, give prepared remarks informing them that Fontbonne was going to close. Classes were canceled for the rest of the day.
鈥淚t is really heartbreaking that the school is going to close down and we鈥檙e not going to have somewhere to come back to,鈥 said Lily Ryan, an undergraduate student in the fine arts department.
Alumni echoed those sentiments.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really hard to see something that was such a great part of our lives in the process of dying,鈥 said Michelle Torigian, who graduated in 1995 and is pastor of St. Paul United Church of Christ in Belleville. 鈥淏eing a person of faith, Fontbonne was a piece of that faith journey for me. You hope that from every ending comes a beautiful new beginning. But first there is a time to grieve, and that鈥檚 what this time is.鈥