Vermont’s Sterling College to Close

Sterling College will close at the end of the spring semester, officials announced Wednesday.

The small college in Craftsbury Common, Vt., will cease operations in May due to “persistent financial and enrollment challenges,” according to a statement posted on its website. 

“We understand that this news is difficult and deeply personal for every member of our community. Sterling College has always been more than a place of learning; it has been a home where curiosity, creativity, and compassion thrived,” officials wrote in the closure announcement.

Sterling, which offered “transdisciplinary, experiential, competency-assessed educational programs,” according to its website, historically capped enrollment at 125 students. Founded in 1958, Sterling is one of a few U.S. work colleges, a model that allows students to keep tuition down via campus labor. Residential students at Sterling work five hours per week in different roles.

Federal data shows that Sterling only had a head count of 78 students in fall 2023. 

While the college managed to eke out modest surpluses in recent years, it had a meager endowment of just over $1.1 million, much of that restricted, according to financial documents.

Sterling is now the second institution to announce a closure this month, following Trinity Christian College in Illinois, which is shutting down next year due to similar challenges.