With Small Schools Struggling, Notre Dame College's Future in Flux

The nationwide university enrollment crisis continues and another local college is eyeing its future amid dwindling numbers.

In November, it was revealed that Lakeland Community College in Kirtland would be laying off 10% of its staff and faculty in the new year. And late this year Baldwin Wallace discovered it was facing a $20 million budget deficit that could cost the Berea college employees and a range of majors.

Notre Dame College in South Euclid, having just celebrated its 100-year anniversary, might also be in trouble.

In the opinion of several current and former employees, Notre Dame is undergoing a similar financial reckoning, one brought about by a steady drop in enrollment and Covid-era budgeting issues. In a handful of interviews, done on the condition of anonymity, the main question being discussed: Could the college shut down?
"I would say that could be true," a former professor who worked for the college for three years, told Scene. "What I hear is through the grapevine, and you never know what to believe."

Another employee, who still works for Notre Dame, offered a more curt response: "We just don't know," they said. "That's all I can pretty much tell you. We just don't know."

It seems that, according to several sources, Notre Dame admins began talking this November in earnest about the viability of a healthy spring semester. Such talks came just weeks after former president Michael Pressimone "voluntarily" resigned, an official statement read, "to pursue new opportunities." In July, the Sisters of Notre Dame, the coalition of nuns that founded Notre Dame in 1922, severed ties with the university.

In one meeting, held just two days after Thanksgiving, questions about students' futures—if there were a closure in the offing—were discussed, according to a former faculty member privy to those discussions.

"With the support of the Board of Trustees, many loyal benefactors, and members of the [Notre Dame] community we are pleased to report that funding sources have been identified to meet the short-term budget challenges we discussed at the town hall," Interim President John Smetanka wrote in an email to employees on November 28.

His tone leaned on the sanguine: "While a number of challenges remain," he added, "we are looking forward to a vibrant spring semester and the upcoming centennial commencement in May 2024."

With about 1,100 students enrolled this year, Notre Dame, although relatively small compared to its neighbors to the south, packs a suite of typical college offerings for its base. Along with some 30 degrees, taught by 52 full-time faculty and a slew of adjuncts, Notre Dame reps 19 sports teams in the NCAA and its men's rugby team just won a Division I national championship.

Yet, despite its legacy as a Catholic mainstay, Notre Dame has operated at a loss for half of the past decade or so.

Despite averaging a net income of $468,864 since 2011, the college's books may have been thrown by its Covid-era contributions in 2019, 2020 and 2021, when the school reported gains of $2.4 million, $1.4 million and $1.9 million. Last year, with 83 percent of its revenue hailing from "program services," the school ended its year at a loss of $823,389, its worst of the past 11 years.

"I've been watching the pattern. You can see revenue declining and expenses increasing," one former employee told Scene. "Personally, I think they probably should have been much more cautious about their expenditures over the last few years."

But will Notre Dame's forecast signal an actual closing of its doors? If admins land on the option, it's most likely they'll announce news early next year, which is both suggested by sources Scene spoke with and the college's statement sent via email.

"It is important to acknowledge the challenges that colleges and universities across the country are facing. Notre Dame College is not exempt from these challenges, which include a shrinking pool of college-aged students and growing costs," the statement read.

"In response to these challenges, we have been engaged in strategic planning and thoughtful discussions with our stakeholders regarding our future. We want to assure you that our primary focus remains on our mission, which we have upheld for the past 100 years, and on serving our students in the best way possible. We expect to have more information to share by the end of this academic year."

It's likely that Notre Dame could run the path of past universities handling dire straits, like Myers University, which was bought out and reorganized as Chancellor in 2008. Five years later, Chancellor, which leaned heavily on online courses, found the same fate. Its students were transferred elsewhere.

Notre Dame having both its centennial next year and accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, the past employee said, would keep it appealing to another investor type.

"It's almost like buying when a bar closes, but you keep the license. Somebody buys the bar because they want the license," they said. "So there's an appeal."

Update: The original version of this story included a mention of The Center for Intelligence and Security Studies and its $2.1 million cost. It failed to mention that it was entirely funded by a Title III grant.

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