Choosing a college is a high-stakes decision. In addition to academic fit and cost, students may wish to consider publicly available information about an institution’s financial trends. Prolonged financial stress can affect staffing, program continuity, and student services. Since 2020, The Scholarship Foundation has encouraged students to review publicly reported financial data when evaluating colleges and universities, including metrics historically provided by the U.S. Department of Education and other publicly accessible sources. The Scholarship Foundation is now using a public dataset that provides a longer-term (2014–2023) view of selected indicators commonly analyzed by researchers and analysts when assessing financial stress in higher education institutions.
This advisory aims to help students and families ask informed, school-specific questions. Public data can lag behind current conditions, and institutions may have newer audited information or additional context. While the source used to develop the Foundation’s watchlist is new[1], the goal of ensuring that students and families have the information they need to make good decisions for themselves remains the top priority.
NEW APPROACH AND DATA SOURCE
This year’s list is derived from a publicly available dataset compiled by Dr. Robert Kelchen, professor and head of the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (“How Has Your College Fared?”). The dataset summarizes ten years of consistently collected financial and enrollment measures for nearly 2,500 colleges and universities nationwide (2014–2023).
In his February 28, 2025, Chronicle of Higher Education article, “How Dire Is Higher Ed’s Budget Crunch?”, Dr. Kelchen discusses several indicators that researchers and analysts commonly examine when assessing financial pressure in higher education. No single metric is determinative, and these indicators themselves do not establish an institution’s current financial condition or predict outcomes[2]. The metrics also do not consider liquidity, debt/leverage, or cash reserves of the institutions.
LOOK, LEARN, ASK
Students are encouraged to review the publicly accessible underlying dataset and to share their concerns and questions with institutional leadership before deciding to enroll in fall 2026.
The institutions listed below were attended by Scholarship Foundation students in 2025 and appear in the poorest performing quartile for most of the historical indicators that appear in Dr. Robert Kelchen’s dataset. Schools listed in black show poorly in at least three (3) and those listed in red show poorly in four (4) of the following:
- Years of operating losses: number of fiscal years (2014–2023) in which total expenses exceeded total revenues.
- Years of enrollment losses: number of years (2014–2023) in which enrollment declined compared to the prior year.
- Enrollment change: overall percent change in enrollment from 2014 to 2023.
- Years of appropriations losses (public institutions): number of years (2014–2023) in which appropriations declined compared to the prior year.
- Years of endowment losses (private institutions): number of years (2014–2023) in which reported endowment value declined compared to the prior year.
Inclusion of a school on the list below reflects historical indicators during the period studied and does not, by itself, describe current-year financial condition, predict closure, or evaluate academic quality:
| Beloit College | Park University |
| Chicago State University | Principia College |
| Columbia College (MO) | Saint Louis Community College |
| Columbia College Chicago | Southeast Missouri State University |
| Drury University | Southern Illinois University-Carbondale |
| East Central College | State Fair Community College |
| Hesston College | Stephens College |
| Jackson State University | SUNY Buffalo State University |
| Lincoln University | Texas A&M University-Central Texas |
| Lindenwood University | Truman State University |
| Mesa Community College | Webster University |
| Missouri Southern State University | Western Illinois University |
| Missouri Western State University | Westminster College |
| Northern Illinois University |
WHAT NOW?
Students who review the underlying data and have questions about an institution’s recent financial and enrollment trends should prepare a short list of school-specific questions and contact the appropriate office (for example, the chief financial officer’s office, institutional research, or admissions). Institutions may be able to provide more current, audited information or updated context.
Students who are unsure how to interpret an institution’s responses are encouraged to consult their Foundation advisor or a trusted individual with financial or higher-education budgeting experience. Students should bear in mind that most degrees take four to five years to complete and consider whether an institution is likely to maintain stability of program and student services.
If an institution is unable or unwilling to provide timely, specific responses to reasonable questions, students should take that into account—along with academic fit, cost, and support services—when deciding whether the institution is the right choice for their goals. Selecting a college is a significant decision, and clear, transparent communication is an important indicator of a student-centered approach.
[1] The link to Dr. Kelchen’s publicly available source data is here: https://www.datawrapper.de/_/jXwZy/
[2] For more detailed information on the research on which the Foundation bases its approach, see https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/predicting-college-closures-and-financial-distress.htm
