The rules are changing in higher education and some colleges may not make it.

The Hechinger Report has the story.

Might some colleges manage themselves into extinction?

More colleges are facing a do-or die-moment: become more appealing to students and parents or face closure or a merger, scholars at a college finance conference here warned Friday.

It’s not just because of high tuition costs. How a college markets itself, the quality of its faculty, and the emotional connections forged with students once they’re enrolled are all vital to a college’s survival, they said.

“If I hear one more school say ‘we’re student-centered,’ small classes, et cetera, et cetera, I’m going to scream,” said Kent John Chabotar, a current political science professor and former president of Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina. “Yeah, they all are, exactly. So what else differentiates you from other schools students are considering?”

Chabotar, who also served as the financial chief at Bowdoin College in Maine for 10 years, emphasized that some colleges and universities are now at risk of either closing their doors or merging with other institutions. Especially threatened are those with rural locations, low enrollment, a small endowment or an overreliance on tuition for revenue.

Chabotar spoke on a panel with Neil Theobald, the president of Temple University, at the conference, hosted by the University of Southern California’s Rossier School of Education.