Almost a year after the University of Findlay and Bluffton University publicly shared plans to merge, the deal is off, both institutions announced last week, citing various challenges.
The University of Findlay, the larger and financially stronger of the two private, religiously affiliated institutions in northwest Ohio, was the one to call off the merger. Its Board of Trustees voted last week not to move forward with the plan, according to a statement from the university.
“Some higher education organizations may find mergers the best path forward,” University of Findlay president Katherine Fell said in the statement announcing the decision. “For us, due diligence in this case has demonstrated that partnering in key ways is a better solution.”
A Sudden Change of Plans
Sticking points on the deal were college athletics and, relatedly, financial aid.
When the merger plan was initially announced, both institutions intended to combine operations but maintain certain elements of their identities. For example, Findlay would remain affiliated with the Churches of God, General Conference, and Bluffton would stay with Mennonite Church U.S. Athletics would also stay separate; Findlay planned to compete as the Oilers at the NCAA Division II level, while Bluffton would continue in the NCAA’s Division III under the Beavers moniker.
But that proved difficult, according to Findlay’s statement, which noted that regulations require a separate process for financial aid distribution “and prohibit the sharing of resources and sports facilities, resulting in fewer synergies in those areas than originally anticipated.”
The statement said that Findlay will continue to seek strategic partnerships. Asked for more information, Fell told Inside Higher Ed by email that “while Findlay is open to continuing these types of collaborations with Bluffton, we extend that potential for collaboration to other higher education institutions that are looking for creative ways to engage and serve students, employees, and stakeholders.”
A Bluffton spokesperson said by email that the two universities “do not have any type of formal partnership in the works at this time.”
In their own statement on the deal being called off, Bluffton officials noted that the due diligence process was beneficial in helping the university move forward, even though the merger did not come to fruition despite a year of work.
“While the outcome of this vote was not within Bluffton University’s control, we remain confident, optimistic and steadfast in our commitment to the future of our institution,” Cheryl Hacker, chair of the Bluffton University Board of Trustees, said in a statement issued last week.
Though she acknowledged feeling “a moment of disappointment” in the failed merger, Hacker added that Bluffton “continues to be financially stable, strategically independent, and well-prepared for the future.”
The move to drop the merger was unexpected; a frequently asked questions page on Bluffton’s website said that the university was “shocked and disappointed by this change in direction.”
The FAQ page also noted that “Bluffton University is not privy of [sic] the reasoning behind the decision.”
As Bluffton moves forward in the aftermath of the aborted plan, it will do so without President Jane Wood: she resigned Wednesday, the same day Findlay’s board voted down the merger.
Financial Imbalance
On paper, Findlay is the stronger of the two institutions.
Its endowment was valued at $67.8 million in the latest publicly available audit. Findlay has also stayed in the black, operating with positive revenues generated during its last 10 fiscal years.
Bluffton’s endowment was valued at $29.3 million in the latest publicly available audit, down from $37.6 million in the previous fiscal year. It has operated at a loss in six of the last 10 fiscal years.
In terms of enrollment, Findlay is much larger, reporting a head count of 5,057 students in fall 2023, compared to 678 for Bluffton, federal data shows.
What’s Next?
Despite the abrupt change of plans, Bluffton officials have sought to dispel speculation that closure is imminent, noting on the FAQ page that it has “a solid foundation, and is well-prepared for future growth and success.”
Not long ago, both institutions seemed fully on board with the merger.
In a FutureU podcast interview recorded in January and published last week, the presidents of both universities appeared committed to moving forward, but they noted various frustrations with the effort—particularly the glacial process, which both leaders said they wanted to speed up.
“We believe in this merger,” Fell said at the time. She noted in the podcast that the two universities were “already setting up shared services, which are going to benefit us tremendously.”
In her email to Inside Higher Ed, Fell wrote that the two universities “have collaborated to share guest speakers, cover sabbatical leave, offer additional course options for students, fill low-enrolled course sections, host events for our local communities and provide students with joint cross-cultural experiences.” At the same time, she noted, the two institutions have “explored cost sharing of administrative services but have not yet implemented those.”
On the podcast, Fell expressed impatience with the change of control required for a merger, noting “frustrations embedded in the process,” which could take from 18 months to three years to complete, limiting what the two institutions could achieve before approval. She added the process “will certainly cost us a few hundred thousand [dollars]” but “we have had good fortune in having internal grants and funding sources” to aid with merger costs.
“There is reason for frustration—not blame,” Fell said on the podcast.
The proposed merger between Findlay and Bluffton isn’t the only partnership to fall apart in recent years—even in the state of Ohio.
Last year Notre Dame College, a private Catholic institution, announced it was closing after the strategic partnership it sought with the much larger, public Cleveland State University never materialized.
Elsewhere, in 2023, Trocaire College scuttled its planned acquisition of nearby Medaille University, in Buffalo, N.Y., leading Medaille to announce its closure the very next week.
Some colleges have managed to survive independently after reversing course, including the Portland, Ore.-based National University of Natural Medicine and Seattle’s Bastyr University, which called off merger plans in late 2023.
