St. Joseph's College closing, students looking for transfer options

<p>St. Joseph's College announced on Feb. 3 that it will suspend&nbsp;almost all campus operations&nbsp;at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year due to “financial challenges.” The closure will affect 904 students and approximately 200 employees.&nbsp;<i style="background-color: initial;">Wikimedia Commons // Photo Courtesy</i></p>

St. Joseph's College announced on Feb. 3 that it will suspend almost all campus operations at the end of the 2016-2017 academic year due to “financial challenges.” The closure will affect 904 students and approximately 200 employees. Wikimedia Commons // Photo Courtesy

Students will be able to transfer to Ball State through this link: http://cms.bsu.edu/admissions/undergraduate-admiss...

Students at St. Joseph’s College will have to find another school to continue their studies for the 2017-2018 academic year.

The college announced Feb. 3 that it would suspend almost all campus operations at the end of the spring semester due to “financial challenges."

St. Joseph's President Robert Pastoor released a letter on Jan. 25 to students, faculty and staff at the college describing the financial woes of the school as "dire." Pastoor said that the school needed a total cash influx of $100 million,  with at least $20 million in commitments by June 1, to keep the school afloat — a goal the college said it's not sure it can achieve.

This will affect 904 students and about 200 employees at the college, according to the school's website.

“I think it’s pretty unsatisfying especially for us freshmen,” said Darian Love, a freshman studying business management at St. Joseph’s. “Thinking that we’ll be done filling out college applications, and now we have to go back and fill out more college applications to find a new school to go to.”

Love also plays for the college’s football team as a running back. Despite the closing, he has prospects at both Ball State and Indiana University and has been talking to coaches at both schools.

According to St. Joseph's, athletics at the school will continue through the end of the season, however.

Jared Smith, a junior at St. Joseph's studying philosophy and religion, said he's also upset with the closing. Smith is the Student Associate President at St. Joseph’s College, and he said the school's closing is still surprising to most of the students on the campus.

“It’s crazy," Smith said. "Everyone thought that we had at least another year, maybe year-and-a-half if we were going to close. From everyone’s understanding, it’s almost unheard of to close a college like this, or even temporarily closing a college."

The college has provided a list of "Teach-Out" schools, which are universities that are teaming up with St. Joseph's to help make sure the transition to another school is as smooth as possible.

Only about 13 schools are currently on the list, although Ball State is not one of them.

Smith said that the "Teach-Out" program has been handled "extremely well" thus far and is helping students find alternative routes to continue their education.

According to St. Joseph's, the school is committed to providing personalized transfer support to all students who need assistance in identifying an institution that works for them if a student isn’t interested in any of the "Teach-Out" schools on the list.

Because St. Joseph’s College is an accredited institution, any student coming from St. Joseph’s will be able to apply and be considered for transfer to Ball State, university spokesperson Joan Todd said in an email.

According to a a Moody Investor Service report, the stress of revenue increase among smaller colleges could result in as many as 15 closings per year through 2017, with a majority of these closings connected to financial troubles.

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