Colby-Sawyer, a small, private liberal arts college in New Hampshire, will be downsizing.
Earlier this week, the college announced that it would be letting go a number of faculty and staff, cutting back others' hours and leaving job positions unfilled. In total, 48 jobs will be affected.
The school has seen a drop in student enrollment over the past several years, which was part of the impetus for the cuts.
Sue Stuebner, the president of Colby-Sawyer, says this is a trend around New England colleges and universities.
“The number of high school graduates is projected to decrease until about 2022, 2023, and schools like Colby-Sawyer, we're highly dependent on tuition” Stuebner told VPR on Wednesday.
In an open letter to the community, Stuebner wrote: “For the past two years, the college has been operating at a loss of more than $2 million, and the current year’s projections showed another loss of $2.6 million.”
Earlier this year, the college analyzed the optimal student body size at Colby-Sawyer: That number will hover around 1,100.
