Burlington College Will Close, Citing Longstanding Financial Woes; Chronicle of Higher Education, 5/16/16

Andy Thomason, Chronicle of Higher Education; Burlington College Will Close, Citing Longstanding Financial Woes:

"In a statement quoted by Vermont Public Radio, the college’s dean of operations and advancement, Coralee A. Holm, said the institution had “struggled under the crushing weight of the debt incurred by the purchase of the Archdiocese property on North Avenue.” That purchase was arranged in 2010 by the Vermont college’s president at the time, Jane Sanders, the wife of the U.S. senator and Democratic presidential contender Bernie Sanders.

In late April, the college’s lender, People’s United Bank, notified the college that it was pulling Burlington’s line of credit, Ms. Holm said during a news conference on Monday.

The institution has been rife with discontent in recent years over the handling of its finances. Opposition became so great in 2014 that the college’s then president suddenly resigned after her car was surrounded by protesting students. The college’s accreditor, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, had put it on probation.

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously on Friday to shut down the college, said the president, Carol A. Moore."