Antioch University’s Board of Trustees announced today that Antioch College would be closed, as originally planned, for the 2008-9 academic year.

The announcement followed the failure of efforts by the Antioch College Continuation Corporation, a group of college alumni, donors, and others, to keep the institution open. A news release issued this afternoon by the university’s trustees said they “ran out of time to reach an agreement on the transfer of the college to the independent corporation.”

Such an arrangement was on the table after alumni seeking to save the college raised millions of dollars but pledged to use the money for the college only if its governance were removed from the control of the university. Critics of the decision to close the college said the university’s neglect of the campus, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, had created financial problems leading to last year’s announcement that the college would cease operations.

In the news release, the board said it was open to continue negotiations. The Chronicle will have a complete story on this news later. —Andrew Mytelka