Observer: Art Colleges Closing

[Wahoo Redux]

Very depressing.

Observer: Why So Many Independent Art Colleges are Shutting Their Doors

[apl68]

Looks like a microcosm of what has been happening to SLACs in general.  And for a similar array of reasons.  Some bet big on building stuff in hopes of attracting more enrollment, and lost.  Some were local schools that got jumped up to college status, and couldn't make a go of it in the long run.  All are scrambling after a dwindling population of potential students, who are increasingly skeptical of whether the ever-higher tuition they're being asked to pay is a good investment.

I recall when the school in Memphis closed.  Glad the neighboring Memphis Brooks Museum of Art didn't go down with it.

[Hibush]

The issue of infrastructure investment comes up again. My impression is that up-to-date infrastructure is a requirement for enrollment and economic sustainability. It is necessary, but not suffiecient. If a school has lots of deferred maintenance because it is losing money, then aggravating the financial cause of decline is not going to save the school. That sounds like the situation these art colleges faced.