The Government Is Rescuing Rural Colleges That Would Otherwise Close

When Iowa Wesleyan University announced in March that it would close, its biggest creditor was a federal government agency that had loaned it $26 million and then — in an attempt to help the university survive — softened the terms and extended the repayment period. It wasn’t the Education Department that made the loan, or the Treasury or Interior departments, or any of the many government departments that support academic research. It was the Agriculture Department.