Week in review: Trinity Christian closes as other colleges make cuts

Most clicked story of the week: 

Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $387 million in unrestricted funds to eight historically Black colleges and universities in recent weeks. Each institution described their donation as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, in their history. Scott, who is largely out of the public eye, does not announce donation values unless the recipients do.

Number of the week: 900+

The number of layoff notices the University of Southern California has issued since July. The private institution’s leadership said last week that it is “on track” to eliminate its longstanding deficit by the end of the fiscal year, following the significant cost-cutting measures.

Cuts and Closures

Trinity Christian College, in Illinois, announced it will shutter at the end of the 2025-2026 academic year, citing ongoing financial issues such as persistent budget deficits and falling enrollment. In addition to establishing teach-out and transfer pathways, the private liberal arts college is allowing students to go over course load maximums with the goal of graduating as many as possible before closing.
Another religious college in Illinois, the University of St. Francis, is taking steps to address budgetary issues. The university has laid off 18 staff and administrators following a $9 million deficit in fiscal 2024. It also notified “a number of faculty” that it was not renewing their contracts, which Joliet Patch reported as affecting another 18 employees.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is facing pushback against its chancellor’s proposal to eliminate six academic programs. An internal advisory group voted to oppose ending four of the programs and raised concerns with the methods and pace UNL’s leadership used to decide which degrees should be on the chopping block.

Guidance for college leaders

Colleges undergoing significant restructuring must be prepared to “craft a positive narrative” about it and their involvement, according to the latest edition of the regular opinion series Merger Watch. Throughout mergers, acquisitions and even closures, college leaders need to own these narratives — or others will craft them instead, writes Ricardo Azziz, a consolidation expert who pens the series.
A federal judge on Thursday ruled the Trump administration must fully fund the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program during the government shutdown — a decision the government has already appealed. Given the legal back-and-forth, it’s unclear when SNAP recipients will get their benefits, warned The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs, a resource and policy center at Temple University. The center is offering administrators and campus leaders a toolkit to help support food-insecure students during this “period of uncertainty.”

Quote of the Week:

Under an August presidential order, Trump administration political appointees at federal agencies now have the power to ensure grant awards align with the federal government’s “priorities and the national interest” and don’t promote undefined “anti-American values.”

Academics and researchers like Lubell are raising alarms that the change — yet another significant departure from scientific funding norms — will erode U.S. research.