Even before the pandemic shut its South End campus in March, the Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology was in trouble. With little new revenue to offset mounting debt, the institution was in the midst of selling its historic building on Berkeley Street and exploring a merger with another local college.
Now, nine months into the economic devastation the pandemic has wrought, Benjamin Franklin’s financial situation is even more precarious. Like other small, private colleges that depend almost entirely on tuition to survive, it has struggled to attract and retain students. The institution, which prepares graduates for careers in the local economy’s technical fields, has worked hard to keep student costs low, but in this economy, fewer are able to pay.
Last month accreditors cited Benjamin Franklin for its shaky finances and gave it two years to correct its problems or risk losing accreditation, a blow that could force closure.
“It has accelerated impacts that we . . . thought we had a longer period of time in order to figure out,” said Jed Nosal, the chairman of the school’s board.
Over the past several years, many small private colleges have grappled to overcome a declining number of college-age students and soaring tuitions that became unaffordable for many students.