Many liberal academics bemoan how colleges are increasingly run on a corporate model, I guess meaning they are increasingly responsive to financial imperatives posed by markets, reflecting the scarcity all economies face. I think markets work to make higher ed more responsive and efficient, despite many (mostly governmental) imposed impediments.
Creative Destruction: 67 Colleges Die
A major reason competitive market capitalism has been spectacularly successful in delivering goods and services people want is that “creative destruction” is a byproduct of market processes —less successful companies die to make room for more successful ones. According to Higher Ed Dive, 67 colleges closed between 2016 and now. That is less than the late Clay Christensen and others (including me) predicted, but that partly has been because pandemic era federal bailouts saved, at least temporarily, many schools on life support. And the numbers have increased somewhat from earlier levels.
The deceased colleges were found throughout the land, but concentrated in the Northeast. Vermont had more closures (five) than California (three), with over 60 times the population. But the recent announced planned closure of once highly regarded Mills College in the Golden State (it is likely going to merge into Northeastern University to avert total loss of identity) suggests even well regarded colleges in historically growing states are vulnerable.