Thursday, January 15, 2026

Using Machine Learning to Understand College Closures - Abby Sourwine, GovTech

As financial pressures mount across higher education, researchers are turning to machine learning to better predict which colleges are at risk of closing. In recent work, higher education researchers collaborated with the Federal Reserve to develop a predictive model that combines hundreds of institutional characteristics to estimate the likelihood a college might close. The model outperforms financial monitoring systems currently used by the federal government, offering a more nuanced understanding of financial distress in higher ed.