A NY College Shutters After 200 Years, Exposing More Higher-Ed Distress

When tiny Cazenovia College (NY) announced it was shutting its doors for good in late June, it became just the latest example of the mounting economic crisis facing countless private institutions in the US today. Like scores of smaller, less-prestigious schools before it, plummeting enrollment pushed Cazenovia to the point where it couldn’t pay back the $25 million it owes creditors. Now, as the 200-year-old institution in rural upstate New York embarks on the tough task of winding down and liquidating, Cazenovia serves as a useful reminder of the challenges that other troubled colleges could face in the ever-widening shakeout of higher-ed in America — and for Wall Street as investors pick apart the school’s assets.