After 170 years, Birmingham-Southern College to close its door in two months

BIRMINGHAM: A private college in the United States, Birmingham-Southern College, was forced to shut down nearly two centuries since its inception, it was announced on Thursday.

The Birmingham-Southern College is located in the state of Alabama in the US. The private college announced it will close down at the end of May.

According to sources, financial issues was the reason for the closure. The college was unable to secure a publicly-funded loan of $30 million from the state’s government.

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A declining enrollment rate and economic crunches such as inflation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic are attributed to having exacerbated the financial issues already plaguing Birmingham-Southern College.

As per reports, the Great Recession in 2008-2009 hit the college hard. The global financial crisis led to a loss of $25 million for Birmingham-Southern College in a single year. An auditing report the next year revealed huge gaps and issues in the financial aid provided to the students from the federal government.

Efforts to secure financial assistance from the state of Alabama were futile. The college had requested loans and other legislative support. However, many lawmakers and wider public disapproved of funding a private college with public funds.

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The State Treasurer for Alabama also stated he declined the request to financially support the small private college because he was not confident in its ability to pay back the loans.

Birmingham-Southern College is one of many smaller private colleges feeling the financial pinch due to stiff competition from bigger state and private institutes. Economic uncertainties especially following Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated and put the existence of most local private colleges in jeopardy.