Lourdes University in Ohio closing: a failing economic model

Lourdes University in Sylvania, Ohio, occupies a lush, 30-acre campus dotted with Spanish-style buildings, a large gymnasium and athletic fields. The only thing missing is the students.

This small Catholic establishment closed its doors in June, the victim of “insurmountable financial pressures”. In the fall of 2024, there were only 964 registered participants compared to 1,780 ten years earlier. A decline due to its ambitious strategy.

To replenish its coffers, Lourdes decided to invest in sport, supposed to attract students, donors and supporters... It thus created around twenty golf, football and volleyball teams, and recruited athletes by luring them with a reduction of more than 70% in tuition fees. This offer increased debt without increasing the number of registrations. Many students who are not very athletic preferred to go elsewhere. Lourdes ended up going bankrupt, like more than 300 universities since 2008.