On Friday, St. John’s University announced that its Staten Island, NY campus will be closing at the end of Spring 2024 semester. 

The decision comes after careful deliberation due to significant enrollment challenges this campus has endured that were exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the University’s announcement “today, total enrollment at the Staten Island campus is 63 percent lower than it was in 2000.” 

The University will not admit a first-year class to the Staten Island campus in Fall 2023. However, the University will implement a comprehensive academic plan for students to be able to complete their degree programs. “The University’s teach-out plan is subject to the approval of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education [the University’s accreditor],” states St. John’s University.

Higher ED Dive reports that “enrollment challenges have existed for small nonprofit colleges for many years, but the spread of the coronavirus exacerbated them. Financially strained institutions found themselves buffeted by significant enrollment declines and losing key auxiliary revenue as campuses shut down temporarily.” St. John’s Staten Island is enduring the stressors of a small college. 

“The university tried to reset Staten Island tuition in the 2015-16 academic year as a way to potentially stem the enrollment bleed, dropping it to just over $10,000,” as reported by Higher ED Dive. 

St. John’s said it will be establishing an endowed scholarship fund to support future Staten Island residents who enroll at the Queens, NY, campus. 

St. John’s University will have two remaining campuses in the U.S., located in Queens and Manhattan.