The Realities of Rescuing Colleges in Distress

By TERRENCE MACTAGGART

Certain higher-education institutions are at risk in 2007 and beyond, according to Moody's Investors Service, which gauges colleges' financial health. They include small private colleges with limited geographic draw, colleges with ambitious spending plans to improve their national reputations, and regional public universities that face heavy competition from community colleges.

Are those institutions condemned by circumstances to hard times? Or can creative leadership put them on the