A Catholic graduate school in Northwest D.C. is closing after 40 years of teaching because it doesn’t have the money to survive beyond the 2012-2013 academic year.
The Washington Theological Union, a graduate school of theology and ministry in Takoma, will close enrollment after September 2011 and graduate its currently enrolled students by the end of next spring.
Offering various reasons for closing, school officials cited the recession, a decrease in private funding for religious initiatives and a decline in “religious vocations.”
“This was a difficult decision for us, not least because of the excellence of the education and formation our students are receiving,” said the Very Rev. James Greenfield, chairman of the school’s board of trustees. “We remain proud of all we’ve accomplished as a community, and of the many successes and contributions our students, faculty, staff and alumni are making to the church.”
