Fontbonne University, an institution that began as a women’s college more than 100 years ago, is set to close in 2025.
Shortly after the news was made public in mid-March, Webster University had an announcement of its own: Webster is now an official “teach-out institution” for Fontbonne students as they determine options for continuing their education. The designation means Webster has partnered with Fontbonne to ensure students are protected and have a more seamless transition between institutions.
The timing of Fontbonne’s news was not ideal, as students were left scrambling to search for colleges that can admit them just weeks before the next school year.
News of the closure, in general, still has students like Drew Bazzell in shock. The Fontbonne senior is set to graduate next month. Bazzell is an English major who had taken breaks in his studies and was living in California when he took a shot to apply for Fontbonne.
“Without Fontbonne, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have kind of gone back to school like I did,” Bazzell said. “Throughout the process, Fontbonne was very eager, at least my advisers, at Fontbonne were very eager to [say], ‘If you want to do this, let’s make this work. Let’s figure this out.’”
For the last two years, Bazzell has been able to complete his degree with considerably lower loans, thanks to the financial aid from the university. He has made connections with his professors and classmates along the way. And while the announcement of the closure was a surprise to him, it was not very shocking.
Bazzell remembers getting a text on March 11 saying classes were canceled. The same text went to sophomore Cassidy Head, who started attending Fontbonne in 2022 and is majoring in Business Administration. Head is also a member of Fontbonne’s women’s soccer team.
“I just looked around at everybody in complete shock. I did not see it coming, some people started crying,” Head said. “We all kind of had the same faces.. We’re just like: ‘What?’ It just got very quiet. You could tell it was very unexpected news.”
Head now finds herself in search of a college that can offer the same amount of financial aid Fontbonne did. Additionally, she is seeking a college with a women’s soccer team.
While she is looking forward to starting over in a new school, she has only a few months to sort everything out before the upcoming academic year.
“It’s really been hectic, because obviously it’s last minute and especially for athletes, a lot of schools are done with their recruiting,” Head said. “It’s hard to get into some of the schools that we would like, just because we don’t have enough time to commit to these schools. I just wish that they (Fontbonne) would have told us a little bit earlier so we could get everything figured out.”
Currently, Head is considering her options noting she needs to make sure her credits can transfer over. Her hope is to go to Columbia College in Columbia, Missouri, as long as financial aid is similar to Fontbonne.
“I love Fontbonne, it wasn’t too far, and it wasn’t super close (to home). But it was nice because I could go home whenever I wanted to go see family, it wasn’t a big deal,” Head said “Also, I liked that my family could come and watch my soccer games, because it wasn’t far at all.”
Now, Head would need to move farther from home and not see her family as often. She has been offered academic and athletic scholarships by Columbia College.
“Going into Fontbonne, I did not know anybody. I barely knew my roommate and now she’s still my best friend to this day, almost three years later, I guess. I’m really close with all the girls on my team,” Head said. “I mean, making new friends isn’t a bad thing, but I didn’t see myself having to make new friends anytime soon.”
As for Bazzell, who will graduate next month, he is working to have all the documents he will need from Fontbonne for his records. He finds the closure of Fontbonne a loss for students in the St. Louis area. He believes there is a steady push away from liberal arts schools and a push for more “practical degrees.”
“I think it’s just I think we’re going to start to see a fairly steady decline of those schools existing and leaning more towards the large private research universities such as Wash U (Washington University), or SLU (Saint Louis University), and state schools like Mizzou,” Bazzell said. “So, I do think, unfortunately, the smaller liberal arts college are kind of starting to die off.”
For the upcoming 2024-25 school year, Fontbonne is expected to have 615 students enrolled. Fontbonne is expected to officially close in summer 2025.
For more information about Webster University’s teach-out agreement, visit the university’s Teach-Out site.
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