As the Cabrini community reels from its closure announcement, other Catholic colleges woo its students

Matt Campbell drove to Cabrini University a few days ago just to sit near the lacrosse fields and the track, beloved spaces of his collegiate athletic days.

The leafy Radnor campus, finished with the spring semester, was largely quiet; the big Adirondack chairs that filled the lawns sat empty, though children from a summer camp played on a field. A young woman who said she was supposed to attend Cabrini in the fall, but now wasn’t sure, hurriedly passed, saying she was on her way to a meeting to discuss it.

“I felt a little bit nostalgic,” said Campbell, a 2006 alumnus. “I wish it didn’t come to this.”

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

Campbell is among alumni, employees and students still reeling from the announcement June 23 that the Catholic university, which enrolls about 1,200 undergraduate and 300 graduate students, would close its doors next June, unable to cope with a mounting deficit. Nearby Villanova University plans to buy the 112-acre campus, though the school hasn’t decided just how it will use the property.

For local Catholic colleges, many of which also have had enrollment struggles exacerbated by the pandemic, Cabrini’s misfortune could be their gain, lending a much needed boost in the form of students. And it comes as some of those colleges are contemplating their own path forward.

As a result, the offers to Cabrini students have notably come quickly in transfer perks and promises of quick admission.

“La Salle University welcomes Cabrini students with open arms and is ready to help every step of the way,” the school tweeted the day after Cabrini announced its closure.

La Salle’s enrollment last academic year stood at about 4,000, down from 4,900 in 2019, though it noted a 13% jump in freshmen. As of mid-May, deposits were lagging, compared with the same time last year. But a spokesperson said Wednesday that although it’s too early to tell where fall enrollment will land, the university is optimistic it will reached the budgeted target.

La Salle promised Cabrini students an “expedited review process without fees or essay requirements,” “a Cabrini transfer award and net tuition match,” and special visitation days for Cabrini students.

St. Joseph’s University was quicker. It rolled out an incentive package within hours of the June 23 announcement. Others followed.

“We take no delight in what happened at Cabrini, but for the grace of God go any of us,” said Immaculata University president Barbara Lettiere, who estimates the Chester County school has heard from close to 50 Cabrini students interested in transferring. “This is all about the students right now.”

Deanne H. D’Emilio, president of Gwynedd Mercy University in Gwynedd Valley, who noted her school’s similar mission and programs, said: “We want to help them navigate this process and make it as seamless as possible.”

D’Emilio said Monday that the university already had met with at least 30 students, offering to accept their undergraduate credits and match their financial aid packages.

Gwynedd Mercy was one of three universities with which Cabrini said it had established agreements for easy transfer, based on those schools offering the same majors and having the “financial health, stability, and ability to support and serve students transferring.” Eastern University, a Christian college across the road from Cabrini, and Holy Family University in Northeast Philadelphia are the two others.

“Holy Family is in an extremely strong position,” said president Anne M. Prisco, who noted that S&P last year raised the university’s bond rating to A- with a stable outlook and that the school is 100 deposits over what it expected it be for the fall. “I feel very confident we’ll be around for another 75 years.”

She said the school has housing and classroom space for more students.

Many other schools not on Cabrini’s transfer agreement list also jumped in to offer opportunities.

“We’ve heard from over two dozen Cabrini students who are interested in coming to Neumann [University] already,” said president Chris Domes. “We are accepting all their credits. We’re ensuring their progress to graduation would not be interrupted. We are also committing to whatever financial aid package they were given at Cabrini.”

A number of would-be freshmen at Cabrini have told Neumann they are not sure they want to start at Cabrini if only for a year of school, he said.

“We let them know if they want to talk with us, we are here for them,” Domes said.

» READ MORE: Neumann University needed housing. A local convent had space. Now, nuns and students share a ‘dorm.’

Neumann in 2021 purchased the adjacent 63-acre property and convent of its founding order to add student living space. Still, Neumann has 45 students on a housing waiting list, but is working on finding more space. Freshmen would get priority, Domes said.

Immaculata expects to be the fourth school identified by Cabrini as a transfer partner, said Lettiere, who reached out to Cabrini president Helen Drinan to work out an agreement. The school is offering matching tuition, credit transfers for classes in which students earned a D or higher, and a waived application fee and deposit.

Rosemont College, which is a few miles from Cabrini, is touting its similarities.

“They picked Cabrini for a reason,” said Jim Cawley, Rosemont’s president. “If it was because of its size ... its Catholic mission ... its location, then a natural transition could very well be Rosemont.”

Rosemont, like Cabrini and many other Catholic colleges in the region, has Division III athletic programs, he noted.

Cawley said Rosemont also wants to welcome faculty and staff interested in transferring.

Cabrini’s announcement brought a cascade of concern from parents, students and alumni, who vented on social media.

“Wow! My rising Senior just received a series of admissions emails this Spring about their April Open House,” a parent wrote on Facebook. “We literally just watched an admissions video & were setting up an appointment to tour the campus! Why was this information still available to potential applicants knowing they were closing??? ... shame on the powers that be over their lack of transparency.”

Aquil Fletcher, 22, who is scheduled to graduate in December, said he was devastated.

“I just feel as though it’s not fair,” the senior said, as he left a summer class. “It’s just so sudden.”

The Philadelphia resident had planned to stay at Cabrini another year to obtain a master’s. Now, that’s not possible.

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

Drinan said last week a deficit at the 66-year-old university had grown to more than $10 million in its approximate $45 million budget. The school saw a 10% decrease in freshmen last year, with numbers lower this year. There is much deferred maintenance that Villanova will inherit.

Cabrini and Villanova officials said they hope to have a final agreement later this summer, but it was still unclear what admission preferences Cabrini students would get. Villanova’s tuition is almost double Cabrini’s and it is much more selective.

Some Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart still live on the campus and they will be allowed to remain.

School presidents acknowledged the difficult enrollment and financial environment impacting colleges, which are still recovering from pandemic losses, with another drop off in high school graduates expected to begin in 2025.

“We have to prepare for a major storm of activity and real challenges,” Neumann’s Domes said. “If you’re not preparing for it, it could blind side you quickly.”

Merger activity in the region has been growing. Last year, St. Joseph’s absorbed the University of the Sciences, and in January said it had a “definitive agreement” to merge with the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences in Lancaster. Also last summer, six universities in Pennsylvania’s state system merged into two entities, and Drexel and Salus Universities earlier this month announced that they would proceed with a merger. Thomas Jefferson University led the way in 2017, acquiring the former Philadelphia University.

Several higher education observers predicted they would not be the last.

Holy Family’s Prisco said lots of conversations are underway, but they are confidential.

“The hospital health world was the canary in the coal mine for us,” she said. “If we’re not in those conversations, we should be.”

Rosemont is closer to Villanova’s campus than Cabrini, and rumors have long circulated that Villanova might acquire its Catholic neighbor. Then in November, Rosemont received an accreditation warning from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

But Rosemont’s Cawley said the 772-student school intends to stand alone.

“We think the world is a much better place with an independent Rosemont in it and that’s where we are focused,” he said.

The school, he said, will submit its required report to Middle States in early July, addressing concerns the body had about assessment practices, planning and budget. The college has hired a director of assessment and adopted a strategic plan, he said. He expects a positive outcome.

The school’s fall enrollment looks as if it will exceed last year’s, he said, and if Cabrini students enroll, the outlook will be even better.

“Things are looking rosy at Rosemont,” he said.