Campus closures, mergers, and cuts: a summer 2026 survey

Greetings from the summer solstice week in the Washington, DC area. We’re alternating between serious heat (not yet at French levels) and serious storms. The happiest beings here are plants. Today’s post is one of my semi-regular surveys of cuts to higher ed. I’ve been scanning for institutional closures, mergers, and staff/program cutbacks for several years. My goal is to collect evidence of such reductions, assembling them in one spot for public access and use. (Previous posts – from 2026: February, May; from 2025: February, June, July, August, October; from 2024: March 1, March 20, March 28, April, May, June, July, September, November. ) My focus in these posts is American higher education, mostly due to reasons of time as well as the distinct features and importance of this nation’s academy. I add some examples from Canada, as that nation deals with fallout from deciding to cut international student enrollment, fallout which canny Americans might pay heed to. I’ve divided what…