Martin University Announces Closure

Martin University will officially shut down, ending uncertainty over its fate.

Closure seemed inevitable after the private university announced in December it was pausing operations, terminated staff en masse and encouraged students to transfer out. On Dec. 30, the Board of Trustees made a formal closure announcement that flew largely under the radar.

The board said that “declining enrollment, increasing costs and accumulated debt left the university without sufficient operating cash to function as an institution of higher learning” in a closure announcement published in The Indianapolis Recorder. Trustees also wrote that Martin’s accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission, had instructed the university to shut down—a claim HLC has disputed.

A closure announcement has not yet been posted to Martin’s website.

The only predominantly Black institution in Indiana, Martin had struggled financially for years. Last year Republican governor Mike Braun left the private university out of his budget proposal, cutting off an expected $5 million in funding that the university clearly needed to survive. As a private university, Martin did not regularly receive state funding but had in recent budget cycles.

Auditors warned the university in its last three available audits that it was at risk of shutting down due to several financial challenges. Auditors noted enrollment declines, high debt and a costly cyberattack, among other fiscal woes.

Enrollment had contracted sharply at Martin, which was founded in Indianapolis in 1977. While the university enrolled nearly 1,000 students in fall 2010, head count dropped to 223 in fall 2023, according to federal enrollment data, which showed a persistent decline over the years.

Martin’s closure means at least 16 universities announced in 2025 that they would shut down.