Sweet Briar College announced today it would be closing its doors this August, putting an end to its 114-year tradition. The single-sex college of all-women attributed its closing to “insurmountable financial challenges.”
“The current semester will be our last, and the class of 2015 will be our final graduating class,” said President James F. Jones Jr. in a video released by the school.
It was determined Feb. 28 the school would be closing after a unanimous vote from the board of directors. The college had been studying possible outlets for a future over the past year, and was unsuccessful in its findings.
“Sweet Briar has faced financial challenges that have continued to escalate over the years,” said Paul G. Rice, Chair of the school’s board of directors. “The percentage of excepted students who have chosen to enroll in Sweet Briar is at an all-time, and unsustainable low.”
Sweet Briar currently has 700 students enrolled during the 2014-15 school year, a number that has decreased from years past.
Rice said the college tried a multitude of actions to stay on its feet, including alternative models for education¬ such as co-education, mergers and collaborations with other colleges and universities, though they were to no avail.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Sweet Briar will be the third liberal arts college to close in Virginia over the past two years via financial issues, Virginia Intermont College and Saint Paul’s College being the other two.
There is no lead of what will happen with the college’s property, or its current $94 million endowment going forward.
The school, which is located just north of Lynchburg, was founded in 1901.
More to come
The college will close its doors this August.