Saint Joseph’s College, a Catholic institution in Indiana, suspended operations seven years ago and lost its accreditation, beset by financial troubles. Deferred maintenance issues piled up; the institution was $27 million in debt. As the region’s traditional college-age population dwindled, enrollment declined to about 900 students in 2017 from a peak of about 1,500 in the 1960s. Now the campus is bustling again, having gone through a bold but somewhat controversial transformation. The college has reinvented itself as a hub for short-term workforce training programs in Rensselaer, the small city in rural northwestern Indiana where it’s located. Using adjunct instructors, it offers a range of certificate programs, including in various health-care fields, veterinary sciences and a newly launched commercial driver’s license program. Tuition ranges from $500 to $2,100 per program this fall, and the longest certificate program, for veterinary assistants, spans just 16 weeks.
