EDITOR’S NOTE: As 2023 comes to a close, we’re looking back at a variety of the year’s defining stories in our region.
ALBANY — After 103 years in operation, The College of Saint Rose announced Dec. 1 that it will close its doors at the end of the upcoming 2024 spring semester.
The decision to shutter the school was made behind closed doors after a vote by the college’s Board of Trustees, but the news leaked soon after. College officials moved forward with their initial plan to announce the news to students and staff the next day and were met with boos and anger from students and staff.
Saint Rose, a private college located on a 48-acre campus in Albany’s Pine Hills neighborhood, was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet. The college is well-known for its education program and has granted more advanced certificates, bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees in the field of education than any other public college or university in the state. Its closure will be a major hit as the state and nation face a teacher shortage.
Seats in the 405-seat hall where the community gathering was held Dec. 2 filled quickly and the school had a scramble to set up speakers for the overflow of people. While addressing students and staff, Board of Trustees Chair Jeffrey Stone cited financial problems as the reason the school could not continue and said the college's cost-cutting and fundraising efforts were not enough to bridge the financial gap the institution faces. The audience several times interrupted his speech with booes, which led President Marcia White to tell the crowd to “be more respectful,” which only led to more anger from the crowd.
White said the college had been in financial trouble for about 10 years and that a decline in enrollment was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, during that time, the school cut $9 million in administrative costs and $6 million in academic programs, while also looking for potential partnerships.
Speaking to reporters after the community gathering, White pushed back against reports that the school had approached state lawmakers for a financial “bailout.” She stressed the school had asked for “bridge funding.”
“It was reported that we recently reached out to various political leaders for a financial bailout. That is not true. We never asked for a bailout. That was not a request for immediate funding,” White said. “It was a request for bridge funding to support operations through the 2024-2025 academic year to give us time to work towards a continuation of the college's critical programs, to a potential partnership with another institution, and to the programs that significantly increase the professional workforce in fields that are facing a shortage of crisis proportion in New York state.”
After the announcement, many students voiced anger at the school for hiding its financial woes from prospective students. Two students noted the school was still giving campus tours during the week of the closure announcement.
Keisha Aliza, a sophomore transfer student, said she may not have attended the school if she knew of its problems.
“It just sucks overall. They should have been more transparent with us, especially transfer students,” she said. “I feel like they should have said, like, ‘This is what's going on. This is the reality. And this might happen,’ just so we could have been more prepared and maybe even gone somewhere else. But, they probably didn't want that, to try and keep the college open.”
What still remains unclear is the future of the soon-to-be-vacant 48 acres of city property. The private school owns more than 80 buildings. The Albany City Council is holding a series of community forums in the coming weeks to get community input and to hear concerns from business owners and residents.