Changing Course

Institutions of higher education are constantly facing economicchallenges to their survival. Nowhere are the challenges greaterthan in small private colleges and universities across America.None of these colleges can assume that its stability isassured in perpetuity. No thriving college is immune fromunforeseen disaster, just as no struggling college is irreversiblydestined for closure.This issue presents stories of colleges in crisis and considerswhat makes the difference between a college that closes and onethat nearly closes but manages to remain open. It offers arange of revealing, hard-won experiences of college presidents wholed their campuses in times of crises. Some colleges found no wayout, and their stories offer lessons that are just as valuable asthe stories of colleges that reinvented themselves andsurvived.This is the 156th volume of the Jossey-Bass quarterly reportseries New Directions for Higher Education. Addressedto higher education decision makers on all kinds ofcampuses, it provides timely information and authoritativeadvice about major issues and administrative problems confrontingevery institution.