(Bloomberg) -- Commonwealth University’s Clearfield campus in central Pennsylvania will shut its doors at the end of the 2026-2027 academic year, the school announced Tuesday.
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Clearfield’s closing comes despite recent consolidation efforts from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, which merged six public universities into two schools to cope with declining enrollment and growing deficits. Commonwealth University officially integrated July 2022.
The consolidation process was “designed to prevent closures,” but Clearfield did not survive a review of enrollment, financial health and future viability that began in spring 2024.
“Despite efforts to stabilize the Clearfield location before and since integration, the analysis revealed no path forward for creating or maintaining financial sustainability,” the university said on its website. “There is simply no path forward to serve students at Clearfield in a way that is financially sustainable now or in the future.”
On average, about 300 students have taken courses at Clearfield over the last five years, with the average annual operating deficit coming in at more than $1.6 million, according to Clearfield’s website. Just 177 students enrolled at the campus for the fall 2024 semester, according to Commonwealth University Provost Michelle Kiec.
“The amount of students taking classes at Clearfield has declined in the last five years,” Kiec said. “There is sadness in the closing, but we have terrific faculty and staff who are really dedicated to serving students through the disappointing news.”
Clearfield’s closing highlights the harsh economic and demographic forces pressing higher education in the US, as schools grapple with soaring costs amid a shrinking pool of prospective students.
Campuses in Mansfield, Lock Haven and Bloomsburg will remain open for students in fall 2025 and beyond, and faculty and staff can continue employment at Lock Haven, the school said on its website.
Commonwealth University will seek approval to sell its buildings and real estate at Clearfield and welcomed interested parties to contact the school.
Clearfield’s mayor, Mason Strouse, called the school’s closure a “profound challenge” for the town of about 6,000 people and its surrounding region.