Once a private college goes below 500 students, it’s a candidate for bankruptcy. Tennessee Temple University, with 468 undergraduates, is a likely candidate. Falling below the 500-student on-campus threshold indicates that a school will not survive.
Its enrollment peak was 4,000. The school now looks terminal.
A student can earn a B.A. degree from an accredited college for under $15,000 through distance learning. Or the student can attend a community college and live at home for two years, cutting costs by 90% for these years. Why should his family pay $120,000 for a degree from a small, unknown university? This is what schools like this one are facing.
The school is typical of hundreds of similarly unknown, expensive private colleges. An institution must offer something unique to justify $120,000+ expenses.
