Cazenovia College to close after nearly 200 years

Cazenovia, N.Y. — Cazenovia College said Wednesday it will permanently close after its spring 2023 semester.

The private Madison County college, which started 199 years ago as the Genesee Seminary, cited financial difficulties for the pending closure.

“We’re deeply disappointed that it has come to this,” Ken Gardiner, chair of the Cazenovia College Board of Trustees, said in a statement. “Considerable time and effort have been spent on improving the college’s financial position over the past several years. Unfortunately, the headwinds and market conditions were insurmountable, leading to a projected deficit of several million dollars for next year.”

The liberal arts school said it will complete its fall 2022 semester as scheduled and will be fully operational in the spring holding classes and events, including athletics and other normally scheduled activities. Graduation for seniors will be held on May 13, 2023 as planned. However, the college will not reopen next fall, it said.

During the spring 2023 semester, the college will assist students with their plans for transferring to another college in the fall, the college said.

Gardiner said the college will not have the funds needed to reopen after the current academic year. The college has 210 employees.

In a news release, the college said the population of college-aged individuals continues to shrink, making it hard for small private colleges like Cazenovia to maintain enrollment levels. Since its peak with nearly 1,000 students on campus, Cazenovia’s enrollment has dropped by over 40%.

It said the “business realities that led to this extremely difficult decision” were accelerated by the global pandemic and skyrocketing inflation.

The college, located 21 miles southeast of Syracuse, said it made large investments in technology and campus safety measures while enrollment dropped with students choosing to postpone college or take a leave of absence, worsening the college’s financial situation.

In addition, the recent uncertainty in the bond and stock markets made it “exceedingly difficult” to refinance the college’s bond debt which came due in September, it said.

“Being a small college without a large endowment has made the college’s challenges formidable,” said college President David Bergh. “We have worked tirelessly to strengthen the financial position of the college through fundraising campaigns, adding graduate offerings, streamlining transfer pathways, and exploring alternative options. Unfortunately, these efforts did not create results to ensure long-term viability for the college.”

In September, the college defaulted on a $25 million bond payment after an effort to refinance the debt failed.

The college borrowed the $25 million via bonds issued in 2019 by the Madison County Capital Resource Corp. to refinance long-term debt and a line-of-credit, as well as fund deferred maintenance projects and capital improvements to its small campus off Seminary Street in the village of Cazenovia.

All outstanding principal of $24.92 million was originally due on Sept. 1, but the college said in a filing that it did not have “sufficient liquid resources” to make the payment. The maturity date was extended to Oct. 1, but the college was unable to obtain new financing by then, either.

The college reported losses from operating activities amounted to $3.3 million in the 12 months that ended June 30, 2020, and $2 million in the 12 months that ended June 30, 2021.

Tuition, room and board at the college total $51,432 a year.

The college was founded in 1824 as the second Methodist seminary to be established in the United States. It initially operated from what had been the Madison County Courthouse. Although sponsored by the Methodists, the seminary was nonsectarian, and its trustees were a mix of clergy and laypeople. It was initially open to men and women students.

Between 1904 and 1931, it functioned as a secondary school for local young people, an arrangement that ended when Cazenovia Central High School was built.

The Methodists withdrew church support for the institution in 1942 when, faced with steadily declining enrollment, trustees turned it into a junior college with the name Cazenovia Junior College. It became Cazenovia College for Women in 1961, when enrollment was restricted to women.

In 1982, the college returned to being co-educational and adopted the name Cazenovia College, though it did not become a four-year school until 1988. In 2019, it began its first graduate program, a master of science in clinical mental health counseling.

The college said it has entered into agreements with the following higher education institutions that will provide pathways for students to continue their studies beginning with the fall 2023 semester and will be assisting students with their transition:

Daemen University, Elmira College, Excelsior University, Hilbert College, Keuka College, Le Moyne College, State University of New York College at Oneonta, Utica University and Wells College.

Other institutions will be added as agreements are finalized, it said.

Cazenovia said the agreements maximize academic credit transfers and will optimize financial aid packages for transferring students.

The college said it was making arrangements for housing student records after the college closes.

Rick Moriarty covers business news and consumer issues. Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact him anytime: Email | Twitter | Facebook | 315-470-3148

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