Among the batch of hires and exits, one leader suddenly passed away after her health took a turn only two hours prior. Elsewhere, before becoming president, at least two leaders have served higher education in an academic or administrative capacity for more than 25 years.

With a smaller pool of available students, a growing wake of attention to mental health and a swelling public skepticism of higher education, these small private college and university leaders in Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts and Maine are redefining their job to guide their schools in murky waters.

DePaul University is facing financial pressure after the pandemic intensified declining enrollment and widened the Chicago private school’s budget gap. To narrow the growing gap between revenue and expenses the largest Catholic university in the US is starting to cut its budget. It is offering a voluntary separation program to about 15% of the school’s 1,400 […]