A hundred or so higher ed leaders got together at George Mason University this week to talk about something that, until recently, might have gotten them run off campus: mergers and acquisitions. So taboo has the topic been in higher ed that the event, P3•EDU MAP Summit, used the acronym for mergers, acquisitions and partnerships rather than displaying the full words in its title. While it’s not accurate to say that higher ed has fully embraced the concept of merging, the leaders at the event were at least exploring it, either because they have read the writing on the wall and know mergers are one of the few lifelines left for many struggling institutions, or because their own institution has gone through one.
One truth that leaders at the event seem to have embraced that perhaps the rest of higher ed hasn’t is that many colleges won’t survive the next five years. Some estimate that 400 colleges are teetering on the brink at this moment. The majority of them are private nonprofit institutions that are overly dependent on dwindling tuition dollars. Multiple speakers noted more than once that we have too many institutions—including Education Under Secretary Nicholas Kent, who said, “We have 6,000 institutions of higher education in this country, and not all of them are going to make it out of the next decade. And quite honestly, not all of them need to make it out of the next decade, or should.”
Greater collaboration in higher ed is also something both parties in Washington are eager to see. Kent said he wanted institutions to partner with lower-resourced peers in their region “to help with some back-office supports and support services.” His administration will focus on easing regulatory requirements around consolidation and mergers later this year, he said. This could be music to the ears of many in higher ed who said that Biden-era changes introducing more rigorous two-step approvals only made a difficult process harder.
Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine also urged colleges and universities to partner with industry and nonprofits. Kaine, who sits on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and whose wife, Ann Holton, served as interim president at George Mason from 2019 to 2020, said, “Collaboration is what this administration wants to see, and they’re right to want to see it.” His GOP colleagues in the Senate would be pleasantly surprised to see higher ed reaching out to private partners, he told me later, and reminded me that Education Secretary Linda McMahon successfully ran the Small Business Administration during the first Trump term.
“She’d be impressed by collaborations,” he said.
Despite the tailwinds behind strategic partnerships, higher ed still has a long way to go before mergers become a common thing. Tony Allen, president at Delaware State University, which acquired Wesley College in 2021 for $0, said its longtime neighbor institution ran a national search for a partner but didn’t reach out to the HBCU. “There’s an inability for colleges to work together unless we’re in crisis mode,” he said.
Nobody wants to buy a failing institution, and desperation is never the place to begin a merger conversation, many leaders noted. But the greatest sticking point is often governing boards. They can be the least willing to give up institutional identity and often have emotional connections to the institution or are themselves alumni.
Still, the opportunities that mergers present are great. For one to succeed, both institutions have to bring something to the table—real estate assets, financial backing or a new addition to an academic portfolio. Institutions also need alignment on strategy, finances, operations and culture, said Rodney Rogers, president at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. His institution would consider an acquisition if it meant the college could offer programs that are more in demand and set at market prices. The right deal would also allow the institution to diversify its revenue streams and, Rogers said, “wean ourselves off finding state support.”
“It’s about getting control over our own destiny.”
Jeanne Meister, vice-chair of the board at Excelsior University, said the driving force behind the institution’s acquisition of Fielding Graduate University was to diversify its academic portfolio. Once the deal is complete, Fielding will merge into Excelsior and become the Fielding College of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences. Meister and Rogers both agreed that being proactive in looking for potential partners is the best way to get the outcome you want. “Don’t wait for a desperate school to come knocking,” Rogers warned.
Successful mergers can take years—in some instances more than a decade—to complete. They won’t be a quick or an easy fix, and too many institutions will struggle to take the leap. But as one savvy college leader said, “The alternative is far worse.”
Sara Custer is editor in chief at Inside Higher Ed.
