After multiple attempts to remain open, Northland College announced they will close at the end of the academic year.

In a Facebook post, they said the Northland College Board of Trustees voted to close the College.

“Despite the collaborative efforts of the entire Northland family, we no longer have the resources needed to navigate the economic and demographic storms endangering small, liberal arts institutions today,” said Ted Bristol, Chair of the Northland College Board of Trustees.

“With declining enrollment and soaring costs, it takes more to operate the College than we raise in tuition. Even after enacting aggressive measures to cut costs and raise revenues, Northland College has no sustainable path forward.”

Dr. Elizabeth Andre is a professor of outdoor education at Northland College. She says other staff members are trying to plan ahead for the coming months before the school shuts down.

“It’s a difficult process to close a college. There’s a lot of questions that they’re going to need to get answers to,” Dr. Andre said. “Faculty members are working to talk with advisees and try and figure out plans for each person. So people are scrambling and you know, it’s, it’s difficult right now to have answers to those questions.”

Alaina Lenz graduated from Northland College last year. She believes the closure is going to hurt the community of Ashland as a whole.

“In a touristy community where the bulk of the income happens during the summer. Winters can be hard and without those students there, faculty members, and staff spending money and contributing to the economy, things are going to suffer and things are going to change,” Lenz said. “I, in some ways feel guilty. I kind of have that survivor’s guilt a little bit. Being someone who was lucky enough to make it out, graduate last year, and not have to deal with all of that added stress”

This announcement comes after the school decided back in May that the college would remain open.

In their Facebook post the college says, “We are proud of our little school on the great lake and its 133-year legacy of students doing transformative work for good in the world.”

Dr. Elizabeth Andre says several faculty members have created a new organization known as Northland Corporation. She issued a statement about the new organization:

“While we are heartbroken that Northland College as we know it will close at the end of this academic year, we remain committed to our mission, which seeks to empower our broader community to act with integrity and courage to create a more sustainable and just future. As other organizations are backing away from complex environmental and social challenges, our faculty and students remain steadfast in our dedication to diverse perspectives, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration.

After the Trustees announced the impending closure of Northland College, a small group filed Articles of Incorporation for a new organization. The Northland Corporation for the Environmental Liberal Arts. We invite partners who share our commitment to a sustainable and just future to join us as we revisit the collective visioning work done by our community last spring.

We remain grounded on the South Shore of Lake Superior, surrounded by northern forests, on land ceded by the Ojibwe people in the Treaty of La Pointe in 1842. We hope to work in true partnership with the Lake Superior Ojibwe and the diverse Indigenous peoples who have called this land home for millennia.”