Dive Temporary:
- Johnson College, a personal Christian establishment, will shutter its Florida campus on the finish of subsequent June amid ongoing enrollment and monetary challenges.
- The college’s trustees voted final week to shut the campus, following years of accelerating working deficits. Courses will proceed by the 2023-24 tutorial yr, and college contracts shall be honored throughout that point.
- College students are being inspired to switch to Johnson’s unique campus, in Tennessee. The Florida campus will cease accepting new college students in September.
Dive Perception:
In 2013, Johnson acquired Florida Christian Faculty after the latter misplaced its accreditation. The transfer was supposed to diversify Johnson’s scholar physique and increase to a state with a big Christian inhabitants, based on the college.
Nonetheless, enrollment challenges meant the college more and more misplaced cash on its new location, the college stated in an announcement.
“Anybody following increased schooling, particularly non-public Christian increased schooling, is aware of this can be a tough time. There are fewer college students contemplating school, and lots of of those that do are enrolling at group faculties or public faculties and universities,” it stated.
Simply 149 college students attended the campus in fall 2021, based on federal information. As compared, Johnson’s Tennessee location enrolled 942 throughout the identical interval.
The college assured college students that its unique campus, in Knoxville, Tenn., is just not in peril of closing.
“Whereas we’re financially steady, we’re additionally being very cautious to ‘stay beneath our means’ and restrict our spending,” it stated.
Johnson’s trustees had permitted a plan in early 2021 that was meant to revitalize the Kissimmee, Florida, campus by chopping its finances deficit, upping enrollment, enhancing retention and rising donor giving.
“Regardless of sturdy efforts from the Johnson College Florida school and workers, we’ve been unsuccessful in rising enrollment considerably and the campus has not made adequate progress towards its benchmarks,” the college stated.
Some workers will obtain a suggestion to work at Johnson’s Tennessee campus. People who do not will get severance primarily based on the size of their employment.
College students who select to remain enrolled and plan to switch to Johnson’s Tennessee campus afterward may have their tuition coated by a last-dollar program protecting prices after any grants and scholarships, the college stated. Half of tuition prices shall be coated for many who keep for the upcoming yr after which full their diploma with Johnson on-line.
The college can also be exploring additional scholarship choices for Florida college students as soon as they’ve enrolled on the Tennessee campus.
The sticker worth for each areas is comparable. Within the 2022-23 yr, tuition and charges at Johnson’s Florida campus got here to only over $18,600. In Tennessee, that quantity was slightly below $19,300.
For college kids trying to keep in Florida, Johnson has established switch agreements with 5 Christian establishments within the state, together with Palm Seaside Atlantic College and Warner College.
