105-year-old Dominican-led university in Adrian has 1,702 undergrads, 155 graduate students; cites financial outlook in decision
ADRIAN — Siena Heights University, a Dominican-run Catholic university based in Adrian in southern Michigan, will cease operations at the end of the 2025-26 academic year.
The decision was made by the university’s board of trustees and general council of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, citing the school’s financial situation, operational challenges and long-term sustainability.
“For 105 years, Siena Heights University has been a beacon of light in a world sometimes cast in darkness,” said Douglas B. Palmer, Ph.D., president of Siena Heights University. “The spirit of Siena Heights will continue long after the institution itself closes its doors because it lives in every graduate, faculty member, and staff person who has been on campus — whether in person or online.”
The college will be at full operations for the 2025-26 academic year, allowing its reported 1,702 undergraduate students and 155 graduate students time to plan for the future. Siena Heights leadership said they would provide support during the transition.
“We are deeply grateful to the faculty, staff, students and alumni who have worked hard decade after decade to make Siena Heights an incredibly special place,” Palmer said. “We look ahead to the next academic year, planning all the activities one would normally get, including athletics, residential life, and great events that we share with our alumni and entire community.”
Siena Heights University was founded by the Adrian Dominican Sisters in 1919 as St. Joseph College. The school’s primary focus was training women religious to become teachers.
In 1939, the school was renamed Siena Heights College and broadened its liberal arts curriculum for lay women students. Siena Heights became coeducational in 1969 and expanded its academic offerings to include business and human services.
The school expanded its first satellite locations to Southfield and Toledo, Ohio, in 1975, offering first degree-completion programs for working adults.
Siena Heights was renamed Siena Heights University in 1998 and expanded its degree completion centers to Dearborn, Benton Harbor, Monroe, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Jackson, as well as an online option.
Siena Heights’ closure follows the 2019 closure of Marygrove College in Detroit, run by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; the 1992 closure of Nazareth College in Kalamazoo, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Nazareth; and the 1973 closure of Maryglade College in Memphis, run by the PIME Missionaries.
Michigan’s Catholic colleges include the University of Detroit Mercy, sponsored by the Society of Jesus and the Sisters of Mercy; Madonna University in Livonia, sponsored by the Felician Sisters; Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids; and Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
Ave Maria University was founded as Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti in 1998 before relocating to Florida in 2007.
