Coronavirus pandemic closes Urbana University campus permanently – cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Urbana University seems to be the first Ohio college to permanently shut its doors due to financial pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.
The small, liberal arts campus northwest of Columbus has long struggled with declining enrollment and financial problems. Franklin University, a private non-profit school in Columbus, acquired Urbana in 2014. Since then, Urbana has operated under Franklin as a “branch campus.”
About 75% of Urbana’s 1,254 students do not take classes on the school’s physical campus and so will continue as normal, taking online classes at Franklin. The other 25% are residential and commuter students taking classes online. Those students will have the option to finish their programs online through Franklin University, or transfer to other institutions.