Saturday marks the final commencement ceremony for students at Northland College — a private, liberal arts institution on the shore of Lake Superior that’s set to close after 133 years.
Northland College has faced years of financial troubles. Tax filings show the school has operated at a loss since 2016. A 2022 audit from the U.S. Department of Education claimed there was “substantial doubt” about the college’s ability to continue.
The school attempted to avoid closure in 2024 by both raising $1.5 million from alumni and cutting the number of available programs from 30 to nine. But ultimately, the factors of diminished enrollment and rising costs were too much to overcome.
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Northland College is among several other small Wisconsin campuses either closing or that have announced plans to close. Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee closed in 2023 after 85 years of operation. The Universities of Wisconsin system is in the process of closing or has closed six of its two-year campuses.
Final Northland commencement met with mixed feelings
Barb Lundberg is the interim president of Northland College. She told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that feelings are mixed on campus leading up to the university’s final commencement address.
“There’s some excitement there. But there’s also a lot of feelings of loss for the faculty and staff who are losing their positions here at the college that they love, and also so for many of the students who aren’t able to graduate and have to find new homes,” Lundberg said.
Roughly 150 employees at Northland College are expected to lose their jobs at the end of the month.
Lundberg estimates that about 100 to 150 students will transfer from Northland College to other universities to finish their education. She said the university has 10 contracts with other schools to allow students to finish their program elsewhere called “teach-out agreements.”
“Many of them came here because they love Northland or have grown to love Northland. It’s bittersweet that they’ll find a new home, but their degree won’t be with us,” Lundberg said.
The college’s board hired an appraiser in April, as it seeks to sell the campus and other real estate held by the university.
City of Ashland exploring next steps after Northland closure
Northland College is in the city of Ashland, which has a population of about 8,000 people, according to U.S. Census data.
The school has had a particular focus on environmental issues. Ashland Mayor Matthew MacKenzie said the closure will impact Ashland’s economy for some time.
“When you take basically 160 people out of the workforce … it’s going to be an adjustment period for us, and we’re not sure what it’s going to bring,” MacKenzie said. “It’s obviously going to have an effect on our economy and our housing situation. There’s plenty of students that live off campus that aren’t going to be here now.”
“Our community up here, there’s not many people that do not make their living involved with the natural resources,” MacKenzie added. “Northland is very well represented here. A lot of our citizens have gone to school there.”
MacKenzie said one of the biggest losses to the city will be the absence of younger students attending Northland.
“One of the things this is going to do is make us sit down and start to figure out a way that we can attract more young people to our area,” MacKenzie said.
Lundberg said Northland College has excelled at experiential learning, and she advises other universities to follow suit.
“If we all think back to our own college education … the things that you tend to remember are the things that Northland was really great at. Having committed faculty, small classes, interactions with other students from across the United States and elsewhere, but then with the focus on getting involved,” Lundberg said.
“That is also what Northland has brought to our communities,” Lundberg continued. “The vibrancy that comes from having all these younger people from across our nation come and join us and learn from each other and learn from our wonderful faculty and staff. I think that’s what’s going to be missing here.”
