Dive Brief:
- For-profit City College, in Florida, is moving to close permanently, the institution announced late this week in a move that reportedly shocked students. The college did not disclose the reason for its decision.
- The college — which focuses primarily on healthcare career programs — plans to stop enrolling new students starting with the fall term and will teach out its current students.
- City College joins a handful of other career-focused institutions that have closed in recent months amid enrollment declines and other pressures bearing down on the higher ed sector.
Dive Insight:
City College’s announcement followed local media reports of the institution’s pending closure. According to a South Florida NBC affiliate, the decision came as a shock to students, who struggled to get information.
“Suddenly being informed three days ago that the institution is closing down, it was shocking, everyone was blindsided by this,” one student told the station.
Another station, Local 10, which first reported on the closure on Wednesday, was ejected from the college’s property by an employee as the crew was trying to gather information about the closure.
City College officials did not respond to Higher Ed Dive’s requests for more information about why it is closing. Messages to more than a dozen college staff and faculty members also went unreturned.
City College opened its first location in 1984 in Fort Lauderdale. By 2017, it won accreditation from the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools and had grown to include five Florida locations plus an online division.
Its website currently lists just two locations, in Altamonte Springs and Hollywood. Its locations in Gainesville, Fort Lauderdale and Miami have closed permanently, according to Google and Yelp business reviews.
In fall 2022, City College’s Hollywood location enrolled 257 students — which was roughly flat compared to five years prior — and its Altamonte Springs location had 152 students, down from 189 in 2017.
As it closes its remaining campuses, the college said it will assist students in graduating or continue their studies elsewhere and “will outline a clear pathway for them to earn their degrees.” It also said the transition would be guided by a formal teach-out plan.
The college added it would continue to provide support services, including advising, tutoring, transfer assistance and placement services.
“City College understands the impact of this decision and has always prided itself on its commitment to its student body: one that we have every intention of maintaining through all steps of the teach-out phase,” the college said in its website notice.
City College is one of several career-oriented institutions to shutter in recent months, including for-profits Northwestern College in Illinois, North Coast College in Ohio, Mountain State College in West Virginia, and Triangle Tech in Pennsylvania, as well as the private nonprofit Pittsburgh Technical College.
