Lawmaker wants to close 3 state funded universities in Mississippi… seems state university will be next to watch across the US as the number of graduates from high school drops
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Closing Delta State would certainly make college accesibility even worse for that region, Alcorn State and Mississippi Valley are HBCUs, and “W” which is actually coed is a sort of primarily cc->4year college. They never were big in the 1st place but all have a major socio-economic role in the State.
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Here’s a map of Mississippi’s public 4-year colleges (from Niche). The B+ just to the east of Mississippi State is Mississippi U. for Women. The schools that are being proposed to close are circled.
Just in looking at the map, I could see how MS U. for Women could be eliminated as it is less than 25 miles from Mississippi State (per Google Maps), and a state with Mississippi’s population doesn’t need two schools that close together.
Similarly, Delta State and Mississippi Valley State are less than 40 miles from one another, so I could see eliminating one/consolidating the campuses.
Looking at a population density map of Mississippi, it seems as though the WNWern part of the state has a multiple pockets of greater density, so having a 4-year university in the area makes sense.
Knowing the history of Mississippi, I know that race is often a part of the dynamics in decision-making and/or in how decisions are viewed.
Here are two racial breakdowns of the state in terms of blacks and whites. Roughly speaking, the western half of the state is majority black while the eastern half of the state is majority white. And 3 out of the 4 schools being proposed for closure are in the western half of the state.
But here is a rough breakdown of Mississippi’s 4-year public colleges, and the enrollment figures are inclusive of undergrads and grad students. The bolded schools are the ones being proposed for closure.
| School | Enrollment | % White | % Black |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alcorn State | 2,933 | 2% | 95% |
| Delta State | 2,556 | 56% | 33% |
| Jackson State | 6,906 | 2% | 95% |
| Mississippi State | 22,649 | 74% | 15% |
| Mississippi U. for Women | 2,339 | 57% | 37% |
| Mississippi Valley State | 1,879 | 8% | 83% |
| U. of Mississippi | 22,300 | 78% | 11% |
| U. of Southern Mississippi | 13,526 | 60% | 28% |
Looking at the enrollments, it is easy to see why those schools were selected (and Jackson State is probably grateful that it’s gotten a lot of national attention recently thanks to its football team). As I mentioned earlier in looking at the pockets of density, it seems like having a school in the Delta State/MS Valley State area would be a good idea. I don’t know the specifics of that region, but I would try to keep MVSU’s name and to select the campus that’s in the best location/condition, in a nod to the area and its history and demographics.
But like West Virginia mentioned upthread (or that got switched to its own thread), poorer states can’t necessarily have 4-year colleges in all parts of the state. I do think that it would only be fair for the state to subsidize housing for students who live more than 30-50 miles away from a college. Giving a $10k housing subsidy for a student is a lot cheaper than having to pay for the administration, faculty, facilities, insurance, etc. for a number of small campuses across the state. Plus, it creates better efficiencies of scale at the remaining universities.
Additionally, in a bright spot for the state, here’s a map of the community colleges (also from Niche). The B that is just east of East Central Community College is Meridian Community College and the B- to the west of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is Pearl River Community College. The state seems to have a fairly robust system spread around the state, and Mississippi is one of the few states that has a number of residential CCs, too. So there are options spread around that can allow families from across the state to get their first two years of education completed while close to home, if that’s what’s better for them.
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@AustenNut - the typical emoji reactions are inadequate. This is fantastic data.
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Apparently, Wyoming includes residential living costs in in-state financial aid at its one state university, based on NPC trials. So it apparently can and has been done in a low population density state where placing lots of state universities in commuting range of the population would not be practical.
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Wyoming only has one university by state constitution, but there are satellite campuses around the state (doesn’t mean anyone can live anywhere close to them, as it is often hours to civilization from remote ranches). There are also online classes that are only open to student NOT in Laramie.
Don’t lots of schools include residential living costs as part of COA and base financial aid on that COA number?
Honestly, very few Wyoming residents pay very much for college, including room and board. Tuition is low, r&b is low, there are a lot of scholarships available to instate residents. I met one guy at my daughter’s orientation and he said there were 7 kids in his family and his parents only paid for year 1 of college and then they had to figure it out - and they all did: ROTC, being RAs, scholarships, jobs (he was trying to talk daughter into ROTC, but that wasn’t happening). Wyoming also has parking lots for ‘commuters’ - drive to campus in Aug, home in Dec - because many instate students live 9-10 hours away. They park in an outlying lot for the whole semester for something like $5.
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State schools rarely meet need, and financial aid is usually pegged to the cost of full time tuition (12 credits). Students (and parents) can borrow up to COA, which may include living costs, but grant aid generally does not cover that.
Notre Dame College in Ohio failed to find a partner to net and is closing down
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They recruited my daughter heavily. Sorry to see this.
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Same with my son. When he told me at first I assumed “the” Notre Dame and was confused as they don’t field a team in his sport.
Fontbonne U in Clayton MO closing summer 2025. This article says Wash U has entered into an agreement to buy the campus.
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One of my favorite coworkers from years ago graduated from Fontbonne. She loved going to school there. Sad to see it close.
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Yet another University of Wisconsin branch campus closing. I think this is the fourth regional campus
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Pittsburgh area small colleges and campuses with falling enrolments.
Most Pittsburgh-area small colleges watching student populations fall - pennlive.com
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Kind of surprised Duquesne wasn’t included in the report. (I looked it up: Enrollment has fallen, but it didn’t start dropping til covid, and it doesn’t seem to have been a precipitous fall like some of the others.)
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The report only covered schools with fewer than 5000 students.
Duquesne had fewer than 5k undergrad students in 2021 (though back up to slightly more than 5k in 2022). But I wasn’t thinking at all about graduate enrollment when I read the article, which at Duquesne is another 4k or so, so yeah, outside of the sample.
It’s a merger but not a merger 
sounds like sharing resources.
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I read that, and I honestly don’t understand what they get from it. Like, they’ll still each continue to have separate insert long list here, including the financial drain of sports teams.
Tough to combine sports programs of different divisions, but they could/should ultimately work towards that.
Like at many smaller schools, it’s quite literally the athletes that are keeping some in business (or have kept them in business to this point for these two schools).
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