CLEVELAND — After several years of financial uncertainty, Cleveland State University President Dr. Laura Bloomberg told News 5 she's cautiously optimistic that the hard part is over.
"I do not foresee any major reductions," Bloomberg said. "I don’t foresee another voluntary separation agreement program. I don't see layoffs. A university that says we’re not going to change is a university that’s stagnant, and I don’t want us to be stagnant."
Over the past few years, Cleveland State made headlines after announcing layoffs, program cuts, and buyouts.
It comes as enrollment has dropped from 16,088 in 2019 to an estimated 13,544 this year.
RELATED: Cleveland State University discontinues 3 NCAA sports programs after Board of Trustees approval
Last month, staff members such as Donna Stewart, represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), gathered in the cold and held an informational picket to voice their frustrations over the lack of progress after five months of contract negotiations.
Stewart has worked at CSU on and off since 1981, admitting that colleges operate differently than in the past, where many small and midsize colleges struggle to survive.
"We’re having to compete with each other in a way we haven’t before for students," she explained. "There aren't as many college aged people these days as there were."
That’s true.
In fact, there’s a term for that thrown around in higher education: demographic cliff.
So what's the demographic cliff? And why is it impacting colleges?
The U.S. birth rate started falling in 2007 and hasn’t stopped. This means that those newborns back in 2007 are heading off to college. And the birth rate indicates that the number of college-age individuals will continue to shrink.
"Had we been paying attention, we could have seen this coming for years and years," Bloomberg said. "I will not say it’s easy or smooth sailing going forward, I won’t say that. But I will say we are on a very strong path."
It's happening at private colleges too. And in their cases, there's no safety net.
In January, News 5 highlighted similar issues at private colleges in Northeast Ohio. Notre Dame College in South Euclid closed in 2024, and Ursuline College is undergoing a merger with Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania.
RELATED: Could more NE Ohio colleges close or merge in the near future? Experts say yes.
That report, highlighted by a recently published paper entitled “Predicting College Closures and Financial Distress," detailed how private institutions are more likely to close because "closing a public college is a deeply political decision, similar to closing a military base."
"If a public institution is struggling, the state is not going to let it close," author Professor Robert Kelchen explained. "They can be really important, especially if they're in smaller towns or rural communities. That is a big economic driver."
More public colleges will likely face cuts and consolidation. And here's where one lawmaker says it'll likely happen.
Data from the state show that enrollment in all of Ohio's public universities and community colleges dropped from 509,714 in 2014 to 451,477 in 2023.
State Senator Jerry Cirino points to Ohio State, Miami University and the University of Cincinnati as the only public institutions still dealing with growth. He told News 5 the rest are either stabilized or dealing with continued downturns.
Just last year, Eastern Gateway Community College in Steubenville closed its doors, and Central State University near Dayton was placed under the state's “fiscal watch.”
"There’s no question we have a much larger footprint than we can justify," he explained. "We cannot maintain those costs. It’s unsustainable."
State Sen. Cirino, who serves as vice chair for the Senate Higher Education Committee, said shrinking the physical size of the state’s public colleges needs to happen sooner rather than later. And the first place lawmakers should look to cut: the state's 24 regional and satellite campuses.
"We are clearly going to have to look at some level of consolidation," he said. "That’s going to be very difficult and very challenging because of the impact on various communities where let’s say some of branches we can no longer justify where they are located. [Those campuses] are sometimes the biggest employer in the local community."
Sen. Cirino added that it is a much easier option than trying to close a low-performing college altogether.
"It’s extremely difficult [to close a public institution] because there's public financing involved and of course our number one priority is what do we do with the students," he said.
Back at Cleveland State, Bloomberg told News 5 that they were adapting how they served students in today's climate.
"In some ways, we overbuilt our environments on university campuses when what we needed was perhaps to think about the future of technology was going to do when we think about the future of education," Bloomberg said.
Last week, Cleveland State University asked developers to submit ideas for repurposing the Wolstein Center or building something new on the 10 acres it sits on at Carnegie Avenue and East 18th Street.
RELATED: What should happen to CSU's Wolstein Center? Redevelop or demolish? University asks for ideas.
"The future of the existing Wolstein Center is uncertain; it can be demolished or repurposed as part of a redevelopment project," the university wrote in a "Request for Statement of Interest and Qualifications," or RFQ.
While Bloomberg did not list specific buildings that could be demolished, she did voice her support for any proposal coming out of Columbus for funds from the state that could pay for demolishing old college buildings that are beyond repair and no longer make sense to maintain.
"We are serving our students well and we’re going to be serving them better in the future and we’re here to stay," Bloomberg said. "Change is going to be the norm. It must be the norm in higher education."
Clay LePard is a special projects reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter @ClayLePard, on Facebook Clay LePard News 5 or email him at Clay.LePard@WEWS.com.
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