Will Champlain Survive?

In an email to faculty, staff, and students on February 4th, President Akande detailed the college’s uncertain financial situation.

Due to decreasing enrollment numbers, the college has been running at a substantial deficit of $6.9 million in the past year. The deficit is unlikely to decrease in the coming year. The President acknowledged that the college doesn’t have the institutional wealth to sustain such a deficit, vowing to develop a strategic plan to ensure Champlain thrives in the future.

Unsurprisingly, this news has caused quite a bit of anxiety among the Champlain community. Kristos Iliopoulos, a game studio student, expressed his reaction to this news. “I would say my initial reaction was one of fear. Being in the game studio was such a crucial piece of my decision to go to Champlain, and if the school closed I’m not sure where I would go. Being a game developer is quite literally the only career path I wish to pursue, so I definitely would list fear as my reaction.”

While President Akande has promised transparency throughout the process of developing a plan, thinking of realistic outcomes is bound to cause a wave of anxiety to reverberate throughout the community.

Typically when higher education institutions find themselves in a financial rut, they start cutting programs. Just recently Champlain’s Burlington neighbor UVM cut a slew of programs to help them stay afloat. The decision was understandably met with protests from the affected parties. Champlain will no doubt have to consider similar tough decisions to maintain solvency.

The biggest worry among the broader community is that Champlain might close outright. Over the past several years a handful of small Vermont colleges—including Green Mountain College and Burlington College—have closed their doors permanently due to the same problems that Champlain now faces, low enrollment, and financial stressors.

The college, and the President specifically, will no doubt work to assuage these fears over the next couple of months as they develop a strategy to sustainably continue operations of the college.

By Garrett Brayman

Back to Homepage