Cardinal Stritch University in suburban Milwaukee will close next month after more than 85 years. It’s one of at least half a dozen private non-profit colleges that have announced plans to close over the past year or so.

Among the factors to blame is an overall decline in college enrollment nationwide — there are more than a million fewer undergraduates now than there were in fall 2019.

“People who otherwise would go to college are choosing the world of work,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen College Excellence Program.

He pointed out that rising wages mean “the opportunity cost associated with going to college is greater than it used to be.”

Small private colleges have been feeling that, and the students who are enrolling often can’t afford to pay full tuition, according to Catharine Hill with the education nonprofit Ithaka S&R.

“So you kind of have this mismatch between the cost of these schools and the incomes of the families that are trying to send their kids on to college,” Hill said.

The problem is going to get worse because there is going to be fewer kids, full stop.

“By 2025, the 18-year-olds, who we know exist, right, because they’ve been born, are going to drop off,” Hill said.

One solution is to look elsewhere for students, including adult learners who never finished their degrees.