Valparaiso University

Due to financial stress, the university also laid off numerous lecturers and more than a dozen other tenure-track faculty in remaining programs and offered a retirement incentive buy-out package to long-term faculty and staff to incentivize voluntary departures. Meanwhile, the student retention rate also fell to 77%.
Amid these enrollment struggles, the university has also faced controversy. In 2021, the Indiana Attorney General's office announced an investigation into the university's Confucius Institute, alleging that it promotes Chinese propaganda. The university closed the institute and denied the allegations. In 2023, the board of directors decided to sell three paintings, including one by Georgia O'Keeffe, from the Brauer Museum of Art to renovate freshman dorms. This raised strong opposition from the namesake of the museum and protest from some faculty and students about the erosion of the arts. The university eventually closed the museum and eliminated the corresponding staff positions, including its …