The Indicator from Planet Money - Are small town colleges going extinct?

Episode Date: September 10, 2026

Our favorite entry on the regional economy from the latest Beige Book reveals a troubling development in higher education. Fact checking by Sierra Juarez.Your Next Listen — Community colleges are kind of underratedConnect with The Indicator — Sign up for The Indicator’s weekly newsletter! — Buy the Planet Money book — Find our socials, YouTube and more! — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ Support public media with NPR+ and enjoy perks for over 25 podcasts like this one. This show’s perks include sponsor-free listening. Learn more at plus.npr.org. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

NPR. Hey, Robert. Looks like you're packing a lunch there. It is September. School is back in session. And I want to make sure my kid has a healthy and informative lunch. Informative, you say, wait a minute. Did you tuck a copy of the beige book in there?

I can see it sticking out of the lunchbox. Okay. The beige book is my favorite obscure government document about the regional economies in the United States. And yes, it makes for great reading in the lunchroom. I suppose your child can always trade it with the other kids for something more delicious. Ooh, like the monthly retail sales report or the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. I mean, those are all the rage among Gen Alpha, but do they have their own awards show? Amasia Awards, our eight times a year salute to the art and science of telling stories about the economy.

I'm Robert Smith. And I'm Waylon Wong. There are storms brewing in the economy. economy right now, and we will give awards to the Beige Book anecdotes with the most accurate forecasts. Will it be workers demanding more money or the rich wanting to pay fewer taxes? Or will it be the economic hurricane bearing down on college towns? The winners, after the break. It is always good to remind everyone how this award show works. There are 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System. Each one studies their local economy and brings back little stories of what they see.

They publish them in the document known as the Bejbuk, and we give awards to the very best stories. We always start with the runners-up. Our third place award today goes to the Dallas Fed. In the Bejbuk, Dallas employers were talking about how some workers were demanding more money. The quote, Robert. One contact noted job candidates asking for San Francisco wages. Ooh, la, la, I love that as a shorthand for a worker who wants a raise. Raise a ronie, the San Francisco treat.

Put that in your lunchbox, Robert. It is delicious. But, you know, you have to think what will those workers demand next? Foggy mornings? Cable cars? Let them eat sourdough, I say. Meanwhile, in another rich city with high wages, the New York Fed gets our second place award. Why don't you read this one, Whalen?

A contact noted that many prospective buyers of luxury properties in New York City shifted to the rental market following a proposed new tax on high-value second homes. This is the so-called Pietitare tax. And this is textbook economics. When you put a tax on something, people will consume less of it. In this case, if you tax owning second homes, people will rent those homes instead. Of course, that could then drive up rents. San Francisco rents.

The joke never ends. Ay, aye, aye. No, the jokes must end, Robert, because it is time for a big award. And this goes to a regional fed writing about higher education. The envelope, please. And the beige goes to the Boston Fed. Coming to the stage is Riley Sullivan,

lead policy analyst at the Boston Fed. We spoke on September 3rd. Congratulations, Riley. Have you prepared a speech? No, unfortunately, I do not have a speech written, but I'm really honored to be back. Boston hasn't won since 2023, So we are thrilled to be receiving this award. Well, you deserved it.

Before we get to your entry in the beige book, I have to ask a critical question. Where did you go to college? I went to Boston College. Ooh, a product of Massachusetts' famous higher education system, which, as I understand it, is an economic force in the state. You're absolutely right. That Massachusetts, as well as a lot of the other New England states, are really heavily reliant on higher education. for employment relative to the rest of the country. Robert, please read Riley's winning beige book entry.

Education contacts noted a moderate slowdown in activity as one Massachusetts college closed recently and another reversed expansion plans and trimmed head counts in response to declining enrollments. And later on the beige book, it says, The outlook for higher education appeared increasingly pessimistic. Oof. Now, if you've been listening to the indicator, you know about some of the challenges higher ed is facing.

Demographic change means there are fewer teenagers coming down the pike, and the Trump administration has made it harder for international students to get visas. And then there's something that you've written about, Riley, more interest out there in jobs that do not require a four-year degree. Yes, yes. When there are such high costs of tuition, maybe people could be earning money doing something else. Like construction jobs or transportation jobs?

Yeah, those jobs as well as one. that just require two-year degrees or certain technical programs, plumbing, electricians, you know, trade schools are really oversubscribed right now. Which, again, means less demand for traditional four-year colleges. I will say the shrinking and closing of colleges has a huge impact on small towns, which rely on these schools as the largest employer in some cases. And it's obviously horrible for the students and the teachers involved. So we wanted to check in on one school in Massachusetts.

that suddenly closed this year. Anna Maria College. Anna Maria College was just a little gem in rural Massachusetts, small student body, I think no more than around 1,500 students. Travis Marusco was a professor and former chair of the humanities department at Anna Maria College before it closed this year. We had a big nursing program, fire science, business, and criminal justice. Travis says that although the school closed suddenly,

there had been signs for a while. We were always struggling. We were a small liberal arts college. And, you know, when I first showed up in 2008, I got the idea produced very quickly that there's not enough money. And so at first you're like, oh, no. And then after about 10 years, you're like, okay, crisis is normal. Until one day this spring, the college held a meeting

and told them that the fiscal situation was worse than they thought and that they wouldn't start up again in the fall. Travis, what do you think doom the college? Was it the shrinking demographics? Was it the high cost of tuition? Yes, the cost has been going up for years. I can tell you from personal experience, it's not going to the professors, all right? There was an ongoing race to outbid each other to get these students. These students don't show up for the cool professors. They show up for the coffee bar, and they show up for the new building and the new this and the new that and that all costs money. And so I think higher education got into this race to outdo each other, and then the price kept going up, you know. It's always devastating when a business closes and people lose their jobs. But there is something especially heartbreaking about a college closing.

Because the first thing you're worried about are the students. Those are the people you're responsible for, and you want to make sure they land on their feet. And so you're scrambling to find them colleges to transfer to. Maybe your credits can go here, no there, there, there's all that going on. And then you also say to yourself at some point, wait, what about me? And wait, what about all my friends? And the community that is a family, who you've known and loved all these years and enjoyed going to committee meetings, as boring as they are. I always complained about committee meetings.

But doc on it, I like those people. Travis does not plan on returning to higher education, at least not immediately. At 51 years old, he wants to start a new career as a mental health counselor, which he says, maybe an easier field to get a job in. We should note that Anna Maria College is not the only one that's closing in Massachusetts this year. Hampshire College in Amherst will also shut its doors this fall. Thanks to the Boston Fed for reminding us of the higher education crisis. And congratulations again, Riley Sullivan.

Do not wait three years before winning again. We will try to be back soon. Thank you so much. This episode is produced by Corey Bridges and engineer by Travis Hagan. was fact-checked by Sierra Juarez and edited by Julia Ritchie. Kinking Cannon is our show's editor and The Indicator is the production of NPR.