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Fontbonne University will close in 2025, a decision that follows years of dwindling enrollment and financial losses at the 100-year-old Clayton-based liberal arts institution.
Neighboring Washington University will purchase Fontbonne’s 16-acre campus “in the coming months” as part of a purchase agreement, Fontbonne officials said. A sale price was not disclosed. Washington U, in a statement Monday, said it has no definitive plans for the site, which located just south of its campus.
Fontbonne's board voted Sunday to “declare financial exigency” and close the university after its 2025 summer term. "The financial position of the university was determined to be unsustainable for the long term,” Fontbonne said Monday in announcing its impending closure. University leaders will host a news conference about the decision at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Monday’s announcement marked a “day of grief” on campus as the century-old Catholic university, with just under 800 students, begins the process of shutting itself down, President Nancy Blattner said in an interview Monday. Blattner shared the news with faculty, staff and students at all-campus meetings, canceling classes for the remainder of the day. Fontbonne was founded in 1923 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
"The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet know that the impacts of Fontbonne on the greater St. Louis area will continue to live on through each graduate, staff and faculty member and how each of them continues to live out the CSJ charism to serve the dear neighbor without distinction. We continue to offer prayers, support and our gratitude to the Fontbonne community as they navigate the next step," the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cardondelet said in a statement.
Years of decline
Fontbonne for several years has faced a drastic drop in enrollment and financial challenges, citing a “shrinking” endowment of $14.4 million as a reason for its closure. One higher education expert in 2022 said the university was poised to “run out of money” if it didn’t reverse its enrollment losses. Fontbonne's enrollment has fallen from nearly 3,000 students 15 years ago to fewer than 800 this semester.
Blattner became Fontbonne’s president in July 2020, rejoining the university after a stint as president of Caldwell University in New Jersey. She previously served as its vice president and dean for academic affairs from 2004 to 2009.
Aware of Fontbonne’s financial struggles as she accepted the role of president, Blattner said Monday her initial conversations with Fontbonne’s board outlined a parallel strategy as she took on the role.
“One [was] this independent path where we grow enrollment and grow programs and athletic teams, and the other [was] looking for a sustainable partner,” she said.
That mission was made more difficult as the Covid-19 pandemic emerged in the months leading up to Blattner beginning her tenure as president, she said.
“It didn't allow Fontbonne, which is an institution that's really based on relationships, to operate in the normal way with regard to recruitment and retention, because for more than a year, all of that personal interaction really just stopped. We couldn't go into high schools and recruit students, who couldn't come to campus and do tours,” she said.
Fontbonne’s enrollment fell 14% from 2020 to 2021 amid the pandemic.
Covid-disrupted strategy
Once in her role as president, Blattner moved quickly to establish a strategy to attract more students, including increasing enrollment by 1,500 students in five years. That goal come as Fontbonne's enrollment fell under 1,000 students, with the Business Journal reporting in 2022 the university had operated at a deficit for the past decade. Fontbonne's growth strategy included creating new programs, such as in nursing, and launching new partnerships to expand existing degrees. It also established a new sprint football league team.
Blattner said Monday she believed Fontbonne’s growth strategy was the correct one, but that its existing enrollment challenges and broader trends affecting college enrollment made it challenging to reverse course at the Clayton campus.
As it weighed its options, Blattner said she engaged in conversations with about a dozen institutions about strategic partnerships, mergers and acquisitions in the past year and a half. While some conversations lasted months, a potential deal didn’t emerge. Those conversations faced challenges around geography, Fontbonne’s financial struggle and integration between the institutions, Blattner said.
Fontbonne had taken steps in recent months to shore up its financials, announcing last fall it would cut 19 faculty and 21 programs as it faced a $5.2 million deficit in its fiscal 2024 operating budget. Fontbonne reported total assets of $54.3 million and liabilities of $28.9 million for the year ended June 30, 2022, according to its most recent available tax filing.
Following that announcement, accrediting body Higher Learning Commission asked for a provisional plan for programs impacted by those cuts. Then the Higher Learning Commission asked for a provisional plan for all of Fontbonne programs, Blattner said. That would have handicapped the university's ability to add students, she said.
“Along with that comes a higher learning commission stipulation that when you have to do one of those all-encompassing provisional plans, you can't bring in a freshman class. You can't bring in new students in the fall,” Blattner said.
Fontbonne on Monday said its closure is unusual in that it has more than a year before it will close its doors, providing flexibility for students and faculty to move on to new schools. The university said it will seek to help its students finish up degrees on campus, if they wish. It plans to provide scholarships and cover tuition for students who enroll in courses in its summer terms in 2024 and 2025. Students will receive individual assistance in transferring to other schools, Blattner said.
Faculty and staff will receive severances as well as assistance with resumes and interviewing as they seek new employment. Fontbonne didn't immediately say how many staff members it employs.