More than a quarter of private colleges are at risk of closing, a new projection shows

Education More than a quarter of private colleges are at risk of closing, a new projection shows April 13, 20265:00 AM ET From Hechinger Report By  Jon Marcus Izzy Johnson, left, and Jack Beatson are first-year students at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vt. The college has announced that it will close at the end of this semester. Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report hide caption toggle caption Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report CRAFTSBURY COMMON, Vt. — More than a dozen newborn lambs cavorted around a fenced-in yard beneath the scrutiny of their mothers and a few watchful students taking turns attending to them. The lambs' successful births have been a needed bright spot at tiny Sterling College, which uses a 130-acre farm to teach agriculture and other disciplines in a part of northeastern Vermont so isolated there's no cell service and it's rare to see a passing car. LillyAnne Keeley, a senior, likes that remoteness. "We have a beautiful view," said Keeley, in the barn where she's come for her turn checking on the lambs. "There are beautiful sunsets here. I kind of take it for granted every day." Sponsor Message Education These blind students say their college blocked their education. A new rule could help She and her classmates have started taking such experiences less for granted now, since Sterling has announced that it will close in May at the end of this semester. They're not the last students around the country who will suffer such disruption. A new estimate projects that 442 of the nation's 1,700 private, nonprofit four-year colleges and universities, with a combined 670,000 students, are at risk of closing or having to merge within the next 10 years. LillyAnne Keely holds a newborn lamb in the barn at Sterling College, which focuses on agriculture and related disciplines. Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report hide caption toggle caption Oliver Parini for The Hechinger Report More than 120 institutions are at the very highest risk, accor...