Dive Brief:
- Financially struggling Northland College received what it described as “several transformative donor gifts” between Monday and Tuesday, representing “a positive development that changes the scope of the situation,” officials said in an emailed statement.
- The Wisconsin-based private college declared exigency earlier this month after signaling it would have to close if it couldn’t raise sufficient funds. On Tuesday, its board of trustees had planned to unveil a detailed plan for its future. Instead, it announced the donations.
- The board did not disclose the amounts or donors. In the coming days, the trustees plan to meet again with an ad hoc faculty committee, created to work through the exigency process, and the college budget committee to develop a new strategy.
Dive Insight:
Northland’s journey through financial distress has taken several turns in the last two months. Its future remains uncertain, though the board sounded its most optimistic note yet since acknowledging its monetary predicament.
“This will continue to require a strategic academic re-prioritization and the need for serious decisions, but we are hopeful about the future,” the board said in their statement Tuesday evening.
In March, the college gave itself an April 3 deadline for an ambitious goal of raising $12 million and said it would have to close if it couldn’t hit the mark.
When the deadline came, Northland fell well short of its target — even after raising an institutional record of $1.5 million from over 900 donations.
Instead of closing, though, Northland said it would declare exigency. The financial and operational restructuring process often means laying off tenured faculty and winding down programs and majors.
Ted Bristol, the college’s board chair, advised caution at the time.
“Northland’s circumstances remain incredibly serious and significant progress will be needed in the next two weeks to avoid closure,” Bristol said earlier this month.
Northland’s board said it had met with the ad hoc faculty committee Thursday to review its plan for a new curriculum. From there, the board planned to meet to go over the committee’s proposals, explore other measures, vote on a decision and share next steps on Tuesday.
But the latest donations were large enough to shake up the board’s plans.
“While Northland is still short of its total funding needs, these gifts considerably impact what is possible,” the board said Tuesday. The “right thing to do” now, the board said, is to “continue the work of bringing together proposed adjustments and the new budget realities.”
The trustees also acknowledged the uncertainty the situation creates for students, employees and the broader campus community, adding they are “committed to advancing this work as quickly as possible.”
The board said it would release more detailed restructuring plans with the public by the end of next week.
Founded in 1892, Northland markets its environmental and sustainability-focused programming to prospective students. From fall 2017 to fall 2022, undergraduate enrollment at Northland fell 18.4% to 518 students, per federal data. It ran a $3.2 million deficit in fiscal 2021, according to the college’s most recent tax forms.