An Ohio state audit found 'derelict accounting and controls' at the now-closed Eastern Gateway Community College, flagging $17.3 million in federal aid lacking adequate records and cataloguing pervasive financial mismanagement. The audit adds to broader warnings that financial distress will push more institutions toward closure or bankruptcy. Analysts and commentators are increasingly predicting a wave of institutional failures driven by enrollment shifts, policy changes, and weakened revenue streams—especially among small regional and for‑profit colleges—raising questions for state oversight, teach-out planning and records stewardship.