Sterling College in Vermont will close at the end of the spring semester, officials said, citing persistent financial and enrollment pressures. The small work-college, with historically capped enrollment around 125 and an endowment of just over $1.1 million, enrolled 78 students in fall 2023 and could not sustain operations despite modest recent surpluses. Administrators notified the campus community that instruction and campus life will cease in May. Sterling’s closure is the latest in a string of small-college failures driven by demographic declines, constrained endowments, and limited pricing power. The institution’s experiential, competency-assessed model and work program could not offset tuition shortfalls and rising operating costs. Trustees, regional accreditor liaisons and state higher-education officials will now shift to teach-out planning, transcript custody, and student transfer arrangements to limit disruption for currently enrolled students. Clarification: A “work college” integrates student labor into campus operations to reduce tuition costs; that model provides financial relief but is not immune to steep enrollment drops and thin endowments.