Dive Brief:
- Siena Heights University plans to shutter following its 2025-26 academic year after officials concluded it “is no longer feasible” to continue operating beyond that point, the institution announced Monday.
- The university reached the decision with the full support of its board and the Adrian Dominican Sisters, which founded the Michigan private nonprofit over a century ago, Siena Heights said.
- The university aims for “as full and vibrant an academic year as possible” before closing, with athletics, support services and extracurriculars intact, it noted. At the same time, it is working with partner institutions to establish transfer pathways for students.
Dive Insight:
Siena Heights — founded in 1919 as a Catholic women’s college before becoming co-ed half a century later — has undergone a rapid financial decline, with warnings beginning to flash last year.
In fiscal 2024 its available credit line fell by roughly half, to $2 million. The university also ended the year with a $2 million operating deficit after posting a surplus the year before.
The liquidity strains on Siena Heights prompted auditors in 2024 to issue a “going concern” warning, accounting language that indicates an entity might not have the financial resources to continue operating.
Auditors cited in part the university’s noncompliance with financial stipulations tied to its line of credit that was used to support its operations during some parts of the year. The line of credit was set to expire June 30 of this year.
At the time of the audit, university leaders had several initiatives in the works to keep the institution afloat and effect a turnaround. Siena Heights reported a record-breaking incoming first-year class going into the fall 2024 semester, and it was working to better reach target student markets and reduce tuition discounts for those who attended, officials said.
Those efforts came after heavy enrollment declines in recent years. Between 2023 and 2018, fall headcount fell by nearly 25% to 1,832 students, according to federal data.
Siena Heights had also balanced its operating budget for fiscal 2025 after cutting expenses. It was additionally trying to raise unrestricted gifts from its donor base to help support general operations. And the university was trying to nudge students into paying their bills to the institution by limiting extracurriculars for those with large outstanding balances.
But the university’s challenges “finally proved insurmountable,” according to a statement from the Adrian Dominican Sisters, which maintains a financial and religious relationship with Siena Heights.
For the organization, a “high priority” amid the university’s wind-down is “that the University closes honorably — attending, especially, to the needs and concerns of all members of the Siena Heights community,” it said in a statement.
The university owns $68.3 million in buildings, stadiums totaling $8.5 million and $2.9 million in library books. After depreciation, the university's total property is worth some $63.2 million.
