Saint Joseph's College to suspend operations after current semester

Amid financial challenges, the college's Board of Trustees on Friday voted to suspend all operations on campus for the 2017-18 academic year. In that time, leaders will consider whether to "begin anew or become an attractive partner for another educational institution," according to a press release sent Friday evening to the campus community.

"The college cannot continue in its current form and needs to change the very fabric of the institution," the release said. "This change must occur immediately to preserve our remaining resources to prepare for a launch of a future, re-engineered Saint Joseph's College."

Interviews won't be available until next week, according to a spokesperson for the college.

Last week, Saint Joseph's president Robert Pastoor said the school requires at least $100 million to continue to effectively serve students. That figure is the amount needed to address the college's debt, deferred maintenance and other costs necessary to bring it to a financially healthy status, director of marketing Greg Gill previously told the Journal & Courier. He also said the school's financial issues had been "brewing" for the past 10 to 15 years, or longer.