「美国高校十年关停数百所」引留学家庭热议 报告称442所私立高校走到财务关口
10月15日，「美国高校关停潮」在中文社交平台和留学圈引发热议。多家中文媒体梳理称，过去十年已有数百所美国高校关闭，一些学校在开学前后突然宣布停办，学生面临退费困难、转学时学分不被承认等现实问题；对正在选校的留学家庭而言，学校的财务健康度成为新的考量因素。
美国官方与行业数据为这一趋势提供了注脚。据路透社报道引述的美国国家教育统计中心（NCES）数据，2013至2023年间，共有726所授予学位的高等教育机构关闭，其中约八成为营利性机构。咨询机构Huron今年5月的一份报告估计，全美约1,700所私立非营利高校中，有442所已经走到「财务危急」的关口，接近总数的四分之一；2020至2025年间，130多所私立非营利高校宣布关闭或合并，涉及近20万名学生。
对在读学生来说，学校关停的冲击直接而具体。据Hechinger Report的报道，在学校关闭时就读的学生中，只有约一半能成功转入另一所学校，而转学生中又有约一半最终未能拿到学位；全美目前有4,200多万人属于「上过大学但没有学位」的人群。报道分析，出生率下降带来的生源减少、过度依赖学费收入以及债务负担，是小规模私立院校承压的主要原因。
（综合路透社、USA TODAY、Hechinger Report及中文媒体10月15日报道）
Wave of U.S. College Closures Draws Attention From Study-Abroad Families; 442 Private Colleges Deemed at Risk
Discussion of a wave of U.S. college closures spread across Chinese social media and study-abroad circles on October 15. Chinese media tallies say hundreds of American colleges have shut down over the past decade, some announcing closure just before or even after a term began, leaving students struggling with refunds and with credits that other schools will not accept. For families choosing colleges abroad, a school's financial health has become part of the decision.
U.S. data underline the trend. Figures from the National Center for Education Statistics, cited by Reuters, show that 726 degree-granting institutions closed between 2013 and 2023, about 80 percent of them for-profit. A May report by Huron Consulting Group estimated that 442 of the nation's roughly 1,700 private nonprofit colleges - nearly one in four - stand at the cusp of financial exigency, and that more than 130 private nonprofits announced closures or mergers between 2020 and 2025, affecting nearly 200,000 students.
For students caught in a closure, the fallout is concrete. Reporting by the Hechinger Report found that only about half of students at closing colleges successfully transfer elsewhere, and about half of those who do transfer still never graduate; more than 42 million Americans now have some college credit but no degree. Analysts point to falling birth rates and the resulting enrollment decline, heavy dependence on tuition, and debt burdens as the main pressures on small private colleges.
(Compiled from Reuters, USA Today, the Hechinger Report, and Chinese media reports on October 15)
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：弗吉尼亚大学草坪与圆顶大厦，美国高校校园（资料图）。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Karen Blaha 摄，CC BY-SA 2.0 授权
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