As Cabrini begins its final year, remaining students note a smaller campus. Where did the others go?

As Cabrini University begins its final year of operation, a few things are clear.

Fewer people are on campus. There’s more parking to go around. But classes and activities are up and running. That’s even after hundreds of students have chosen to leave the small Catholic university in Radnor, which announced in June that it had reached a tentative agreement to sell its campus to Villanova University.

And those departing students have provided a boost to schools that have seen their own recent enrollment challenges.

» READ MORE: Villanova has tentative agreement to buy Cabrini University campus; Cabrini will close in 2024

St. Joseph’s, one of the largest Catholic universities in the region, said it admitted 120 Cabrini students this fall, though final numbers won’t be complete until October. They include 19 freshmen, 94 transfers, and seven graduate or doctoral students.

The university was one of the first in the region to roll out an incentive package, welcoming Cabrini students, doing so within hours of the announcement that Cabrini, facing enrollment losses and financial difficulty, would close at the end of the 2023-24 school year.

St. Joseph’s noted that its transfer enrollment had increased 113% this year, largely due to the Cabrini student enrollment.

» READ MORE: As the Cabrini community reels from its closure announcement, other Catholic colleges woo its students

“St. Joseph’s has been committed to providing a seamless transition for affected students. ....” the school said.

La Salle University, another large Catholic college in the region, declined to say how many Cabrini students it enrolled.

Eastern University in St. Davids, which is just across the road from Cabrini and was designated by Cabrini as one of four partnership schools for transfers next year — ensuring matching tuition and financial aid, comparable curriculum, and easy credit transfer and application process — said it already got 40 students.

Gwynedd Mercy University, another partnership school, got 29, while Holy Family University reported that it welcomed “a handful” of transfer students. Ursinus College, the fourth partner, received two.

Those not designated as partners also got some students. Neumann University enrolled 16, Immaculata, 24 and Rosemont College, 13.

That comes to a total of about 250 students at the eight schools.

“We have dozens of applications for spring 2024 transfers,” added Rosemont spokesperson Katie DuBoff. “We have also welcomed some Cabrini staff and faculty to our team.”

Paulette Adams, of Philadelphia, said Rosemont really helped ease the transition for her niece, Indira Hernandez, who started as a freshman this year. The news about Cabrini had really upended them.

» READ MORE: With a mounting deficit, Cabrini University eliminates academic leadership positions, including the provost

“We thought we were set,” Adams, 58, said, noting that Cabrini had provided a very good financial aid package.

After seeing that Rosemont was welcoming Cabrini students, she reached out and the college, she said, offered to matched her financial aid from Cabrini and provide $2,000 more the first year. Adams, however, said she needed to be sure Hernandez, for whom she serves as legal guardian, would have the same extra support in subsequent years. The college, she said, arranged for Hernandez to get a community service scholarship.

“They worked really hard,” she said. “They jumped in and saved us.”

So she’ll end up paying less than if she had attended Cabrini, Adams said.

Exactly how many more students, like Hernandez, decided to transfer is unknown. Cabrini, which had about 1,200 undergraduate and 300 graduate students last year, declined to answer questions about this year’s enrollment.

“Right now, we are focused on welcoming our final classes of students and preparing for a robust and successful academic year,” said Angela Buchanico, executive director of marketing and communications.

Cabrini, a 66-year-old institution, had been exploring partnerships and merger possibilities, but a deficit that had grown to more than $10 million in its approximate $45 million budget led to a path of closure instead.

Villanova has yet to say what it will do with the 112-acre Cabrini campus, which is about two miles away. The schools are working on finalizing a sales agreement as Cabrini tries to operate as normal a school year as possible.

One afternoon this week, students sat in Adirondack chairs and at picnic tables on the college green, taking online quizzes, writing compositions, and doing other class work. Some students said they chose to stay because the closure announcement happened so late in the year that they didn’t feel they had enough time to do anything else.

“I wanted to give it more thought,” said Paola Rivera, 20, a sophomore marketing major from Phoenixville. “Come back here and sort everything out.”

She said she’s considering Immaculata for next year and has friends who already transferred there.

Emily Shultz said she wanted to take the time to make herself an even more attractive candidate to other schools and find a high-quality, hands-on communications program, like the one she says she has had at Cabrini.

“I’m very appreciative of what they provided me, and I hope I can find that in the next school,” said Shultz, 19, a sophomore digital communications major from Lower Merion.

Dion Allen, 19, a freshman finance and international business major from Upper Darby, is eyeing Eastern, with the hope of playing football. He said he’s glad he came to Cabrini even though it will be for only one year.

“Everybody is closer in a sense,” he said. “We all know it’s our last year.”

Some upperclassmen said they were glad they returned, even though the campus feels less full.

“I just love Cabrini,” said Emma Regulski, 20, a junior digital communications major from Manahawkin, N.J. “I didn’t want to go anywhere else, because I still wanted the one last year with all my friends.”

Her roommate, Leigha Sepers, 20, also a junior digital communications major from Swedesboro, N.J., said she wanted to come back in part because she is serving as an editor for the Loquitur, the student news site. And there’s a chance she will earn enough credits to graduate in the spring, she said.

The reduction in students, though, is noticeable, both women said. “More parking,” Sepers noted. She also said she had a class with four people in it, smaller than usual.

They said it makes them a little sad, but they are trying not to think about that. Rather, they are focusing on how to make the most of their last year.

Wayne Hack, 21, a senior psychology and criminology major from Norristown, said Cabrini has been a second home to him. He’ll miss the opportunity to come back as an alumnus for homecoming, but is focused on appreciating his last year, which will go down in history as the university’s final senior class.

“Just try to cherish every moment that you have in life,” he said, “because you never know when it’s just going to go away.”