Sterling College campus in Craftsbury
” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sterling-college-drone-photo-scaled.webp?fit=300%2C169&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.sevendaysvt.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/sterling-college-drone-photo-scaled.webp?fit=780%2C439&ssl=1″>
Sterling College, an unorthodox, tiny school for students interested in the environment, will shut down at the end of this academic year and close its Craftsbury Common campus.
The college’s board of trustees announced the closure this week after concluding that Sterling could not attain stable financial footing. Classes will remain in session for its 100 or so students through the spring semester, the board said.
Trustees have made arrangements with several schools, including Champlain College, Community College of Vermont and College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine for students to complete their degrees elsewhere.
The wind-down plan provides “the most responsible way” for the college to honor its commitments while “preserving its values and legacy,” board chair Allison Hooper said in a statement.
Sterling College dates back to the 1950s but only became an accredited, four-year college in 1997. It is small and quirky by design, with a cap of 120 students who work in their field of interest and on a farm as they pursue their ecologically focused courses. In recent years, enrollment dipped below 100, however. The college has only a small endowment to draw upon to support operations.
Thomas Scott, Sterling’s president since 2023, projected confidence in the school’s finances during an interview with Seven Days that year. “Sterling College’s future is not in question in my mind,” he said at the time.
But Sterling’s minuscule size and tightly focused academic mission have not spared the school from the pressures facing higher education nationally and in New England in particular. Vermont colleges are competing for fewer college-aged students while navigating increasing costs.
Several Vermont colleges have closed in recent years, including Green Mountain College in Poultney, Southern Vermont College in Bennington, College of St. Joseph’s in Rutland, Marlboro College in Marlboro and Goddard College in Plainfield.
The closures have left voids in the small communities where they were longstanding economic and cultural institutions.
Sterling’s trustees said they have not yet determined what to do with the college’s remaining assets, including its 130-acre campus.
The post Sterling College to Close in 2026 appeared first on Seven Days.