A private liberal arts college in southeast Iowa may have to close because of significant financial problems, maybe before the academic year ends in May.

Iowa Wesleyan University's Board of Trustees will meet Nov. 15 to consider the institution's future, President Steven Titus wrote in a message posted on the university's website.

"At this moment, the university does not have the required financial underpinnings to bridge the gap between strong enrollment and new programming, and the money needed to keep the institution open," Titus wrote.

The Nov. 15 meeting follows a "tremendously difficult" special session last week where trustees reviewed the university's financial projections.

Former Iowa first lady Christie Vilsack — a member of the school's board of trustees — told the Register Monday it's uncertain whether the school can continue operating through the academic year.

"We hope that we can at least graduate our last class in May, but we just don't know that yet," said Vilsack. "We're doing everything we can to get to May."

Titus on Monday told KLlJ Radio, a Mount Pleasant station located near the campus, said no decision has been made.

"What I really, really want the community to understand that there is a lot more fight in me and this institution than there is resignation,” Titus said.

University loses millions each year

While the university has doubled its enrollment and increased student retention during the past five years, it "does not have a healthy endowment or extensive donor network," Titus wrote in the message.

Vilsack — whose husband and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack in April helped the school raise $1 million — said the school recently had asked alumni to help raise about $15 million, much of which hadn't materialized.

Titus also noted several anticipated donations had not materialized.

The university's 990 tax forms show that in 2015 it spent $3.32 million more than it took in. It operated at a loss of $4.57 million in 2014 and $2.45 million in 2013, tax documents show.

The university is pursuing additional funding sources and partnerships, including through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, regional businesses, community leaders and other higher education partners, Titus said in his online message.

"We feel a strong responsibility and commitment to continue the mission of Iowa Wesleyan University," Titus wrote.

The university began in 1842 — four years before Iowa became a state — as the Mount Pleasant Literary Institute. It sits on 60 acres, has an undergraduate enrollment is 573 and charges $30,500 a year in tuition and fees, according to the latest ranking U.S. News & World Report.

Some of its most famous students include Peggy Whitson, the two-time commander of the International Space Station; and James Van Allen, a physicist who made some of the first major space discoveries credited with making space travel possible.

A national struggle

Some higher education institutions across the nation have struggled for years as they deal with aging infrastructure, high debt and a struggle to maintain student levels, according to a 2013 review by the New York Times.

Education Dive — a trade publication that focuses on the education industry — last month published a list of colleges and universities that have closed since 2016, listing 151 that succumbed to closing, mergers, acquisition or other consolidation.

Most were for-profit schools, including Vatterott College in a sale announced earlier this year to the private Education Corporation of America.

Iowa has seen other college programs or schools close in recent years. The AIB College of Business' 17-acre campus in Des Moines closed after a failed effort by the University of Iowa to offer classes there.

Simpson College in Indianola last month announced it was eliminating its art department as well as its French and German majors by the end of the academic year, citing declining student interest.

Simpson’s enrollment has dropped 9 percent in the past three years and is currently at 1,250 full-time students. The school has eliminated nearly 20 percent of its faculty positions this year.

The prospect of a Mount Pleasant without an Iowa Wesleyan is distressing, said Mary Elgar, a 1975 graduate and secretary of the school’s board of trustees. Elgar, a resident of Mount Pleasant, noted the university has a more than $55 million economic impact to southeast Iowa, according to a study released this year by the Hanover Research of Arlington, Virginia.

Virtually every viable option is currently open for consideration, Elgar said to questions about whether a consolidation or partnership with another school or business is being considered to save the 176-year-old university.

“We want to find the best solutions for our students, faculty and staff,” Elgar said. “We’re committed to finding the best solutions and everything is on the table.”