Iowa Wesleyan University is closing, citing rising costs, shifting enrollment trends, declining fundraising and the governor’s rejection of a proposal for federal COVID-19 relief funds. The 181-year-old private university made the announcement Tuesday, following a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees to cease operations at the end of the current academic year. Though a university press release noted the challenging “headwinds” facing many institutions, IWU officials have suggested the closure could have been avoided if Governor Kim Reynolds had approved the university’s request for $12 million from the funds given to the state as part of the federal American Rescue Plan Act.
