Citing declining enrollment and a budget shortfall, Sterling College announced this week that it will close its doors after the spring 2026 semester.
The tiny institution in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom offered a single degree program, in environmental studies, and capped its enrollment at 125 students. Throughout its 65-year history, starting as a prep school for boys, it focused on experiential, outdoor education.
In recent years, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic, Sterling struggled to recruit enough students. Despite “an infusion of short-term support” and efforts to diversify its revenue and programming, college leaders said, it could not complete a turnaround.
Calling the decision to close “extremely difficult,” President Scott L. Thomas said in a statement, “The College’s legacy will live on through the enduring commitment to ecological learning and responsible citizenship of our alumni, partners, and supporters.”
Sterling is the latest in a series of small private schools throughout Vermont to close over the last decade. They include Burlington College, Green Mountain College, Southern Vermont College, College of St. Joseph, Marlboro College and Goddard College.
Sterling intends to continue offering classes until its spring 2026 commencement, after which it plans to wind down its operations. Its leaders said it’s working with other colleges in Vermont and Maine to allow students who don’t complete their degrees by then to transfer.
School leaders said they had not yet determined what will become of Sterling’s picturesque, 130-acre campus in Craftsbury Common.
