Why Should Delaware Care?
The impending closure of the Delaware College of Art & Design (DCAD) will leave the state without an independent art and design college for the first time in more than 25 years. The reasons behind its closure also come as a warning to other small higher education institutions that are similarly reliant on federal student aid to secure their annual enrollments.
For 27 years, the Delaware College of Art and Design (DCAD) has helped generations of local artists strengthen their skills and confidence, but after years of declining enrollment the small fine arts school will close its doors in downtown Wilmington.
That unfortunate end was spurred on, at least in part, by this year’s debacle over federal student aid, according to leaders.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid, better known as the FAFSA, is a federal form used to determine eligibility for Pell grants and federal student loans, as well as financial aid from many universities as well. On Dec. 30, the U.S. Department of Education switched to a new, shorter FAFSA form, but its roll-out has been marked with glitches and errors that have delayed approval for funding for millions of American families.
Those issues have particularly impacted the ability of low-income families to confirm a student’s attendance at colleges and universities next fall, and DCAD may well be the first institution to blame FAFSA for contributing to its closure.
“Like many independent art and design schools, DCAD faces long-standing challenges related to declining enrollment, a shrinking pool of college-age students, rising costs, and unexpected issues with the roll-out of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid,” DCAD President Jean Dahlgren said in a statement announcing the closure. “We did not make the decision lightly and sought every possible avenue to avoid it. Our declining enrollment numbers over the last several years and for the upcoming school year have prevented us from adequately supporting our educational purposes and programs. The Board of Trustees has worked diligently to find other funding solutions, but none allow us to overcome the longer-term problem of too few students.”
When reached by Spotlight Delaware, Dahlgren said that she was not able to comment beyond her public statement.
Weakening finances
Like many small private universities, DCAD has struggled to attract a growing enrollment. Between 2017 and 2022, enrollment fell by nearly 10% to a total of 129 students, according to federal data. Compared to 2010 levels, it was down about 42%.
With an annual tuition of about $30,000, the dwindling enrollment put strain on the university’s future. The college’s aging facilities at its Market Street campus in Wilmington only exacerbated the issues, and it sold off its residence and dining halls in recent years.
As of June 30, 2023, DCAD held $2.9 million in financial assets, including $1.4 million in cash or equivalents. Those totals had both grown over the prior year, but rising programmatic costs led to an operating deficit of nearly $1.3 million – its first deficit in at least three years.
Despite having cash on hand, DCAD also notably faced an impending loan payment of about $381,000 this month – more than four times the typical loan payment that the college faced over the next four years.
For years, DCAD had teetered on the edge of insolvency, and auditors expressed concern about its ability to continue. The college’s leaders had aimed to achieve an enrollment of 200 or more students for the 2024-25 academic year by implementing more assertive marketing and communication software and hiring industry consultants. It also secured a $1.5 million match grant from the state government, but was required to raise $1 million of its own before it could tap those funds.
Perhaps most promising was the completion of a $400,000, donor-funded Student Technology Center earlier this year that helped the college to receive more than 500 applications for the fall 2024 semester, officials reported.
FAFSA troubles
Despite the uptick in applications though, it appears that issues over FAFSA approvals could have played a significant part in the rapid downfall of DCAD.
As of 2022, 93% of the student body at DCAD received a Pell grant while 83% had a federal student loan – both are byproducts of the FAFSA process. Delays in approvals for a loan or grant could mean the difference between going and not going to college for many students, and those issues came at a time when DCAD could ill afford to have enrollment decline again.
Deborah Obalil, the president and executive director of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, a nonprofit consortium of the leading specialized arts and design schools in the U.S. and Canada, said that FAFSA has been a major issue this year for her members, which included DCAD.
“There’s a whole group of students, primarily those of the greatest need for support in pursuing their college education and where college in many cases is really a key pathway to improving their future life and even the life of their families and communities, who have really been left in limbo,” she said. “These students are still out there waiting for information about what it’s going to cost them to go to college next year, and that, of course, concerns colleges because so many of them are financially dependent on the tuition.”
DCAD is not alone in its financial struggles, as the much larger University of the Arts in Philadelphia recently announced its closure and Woodbury University in California agreed to a merger.
“Nationally, there is an uptick in closures of all kinds of colleges and universities, and so art and design colleges are not immune from the same pressures that are facing all different kinds of colleges and universities. We know from data that within our membership, the recovery from the pandemic has not been even,” Obalil said, noting that some schools are seeing growing enrollments.
One option not available to save DCAD’s future was its endowment, which held just under $1 million as of June 30, 2023, and was restricted in use to only student scholarships.
A sudden end
For the 50 students caught between their first and second year at DCAD’s associate degree programs, the closure came as a shock, with no notice provided before the public announcement that came several weeks after the college’s academic year ended.
Many told Spotlight Delaware that they learned of the closure from an email sent on May 23.
“I had heard talk of DCAD not being in the best shape financially, but nothing near the level of full closure. There was no warning or grace semester/year to get things in order for both students and staff, we were informed at the same time as the general public,” said Jinx McDonegal, a rising second-year student. “This whole situation has been so sudden and to be honest, quite stressful. To have what seemed to be solid plans for my education just kind of imploded has been hard. We were all enrolled for classes next semester, there was no reason to anticipate this, at least not immediately.”
As part of its wind-down agreement with its accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, DCAD has worked out transfer agreements with the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design in Lancaster, Pa., and Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. The University of Delaware and The College of New Jersey have also recently announced efforts to place affected students as well.
Another rising second-year student, who asked to only be identified by her first name, Juli, said she was disappointed in the way that the college informed its students and led them to believe that they would return next fall. She has begun assisting other classmates by seeking out recommendations from alumni at area colleges on their programs via forums like Reddit.
“A couple of students who were going to enroll in DCAD out of high school contacted me and asked me where they should go now. It genuinely broke my heart to see how many students were really counting on DCAD as their way to reach their dream careers, and now that’s gone,” she said.
While many students said they were planning to transfer to another school, those moves won’t come without their challenges. Juli, who commuted to DCAD, noted that wouldn’t be possible at PCAD and that she would have to spend thousands more each year on a rental.
McDonegal is a caregiver for her mother, who is disabled with a chronic and progressive condition, and they will now have to set up a whole new resource network to ensure her care.
“This sudden shift in planning not only affects myself, but the people around me,” they said. “Now I have to process leaving her much more quickly, and scramble to piece together resources for her when I am gone.”
Community supports students
While the experience of losing their school has been traumatic, the DCAD students said they have been overwhelmed by the support of the local arts scene.
Juli made an Instagram post featuring the work and CashApp profiles of many DCAD artists shortly after the announcement, and supporters have been donating to assist their journey.
Those efforts have grown into a full-fledged benefit art exhibit at The Sold Firm, the small independent art gallery near the DCAD campus.
“There’s no way I was going to sit back, watch and not make some motion for the displaced DCAD students,” said Nataki Oliver, the gallery’s owner.
Support the community
Titled the “Breaking News DCAD Student Art Sale,” the three-day exhibit and art sale will run June 28-30 at the gallery located at at 800 N. Tatnall St. The Sold Firm is offering its space commission-free with all of the sale proceeds going to the student artists.
Have a question about or feedback on this story? Reach Jacob Owens at jowens@spotlightdelaware.org.
