Notre Dame College announces closure (2024)

Facing steep financial challenges and unable to secure a strategic partnership, Notre Dame College in Ohio will close at the end of the spring semester, Ideastream Public Media reported.

The announcement, made Thursday, comes after the apparent breakdown of talks about a potential strategic partnership between Notre Dame and Cleveland State University.

Founded in 1922, Notre Dame, a small Catholic college, recently celebrated its centennial. A news release on the closure cited declining enrollment, demographic challenges, rising costs and significant debt.

“Throughout this long process, we evaluated every possible option to continue the mission of Notre Dame College. Our primary focus has been to ensure our students can successfully continue their education, graduate, and—in the tradition of the Sisters of Notre Dame—live a life of personal, professional and global responsibility,” Terri Bradford Eason, chair of the Board of Trustees, said in the news release announcing the closure decision.

While local media reports put current enrollment at about 1,050 full-time students, that number has fallen by more than half since fall 2014, when the college enrolled 2,281 students, according to the Department of Education’s Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System.

The college has teach-out plans in place with nine other institutions.