EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one in a series looking at what Lake County communities, agencies and school districts experienced in 2025 and what is facing them in 2026.

Lake Erie College took steps last year to refocus its offerings and adjust to changing realities in the world of higher education.

President Jen Schuller said that program changes in summer 2025 were “a significant academic restructuring” for the Painesville institution. It aimed to define the question, “What is Lake Erie College known for?” and emphasized “strengths in the sciences, business and education.”

Lake Erie’s programs were restructured into a School of Education, a School of Business and a School of STREAMS (Science, Technology, Research, Engineering, Animal and Medical Sciences).

“This change was designed to better align instructional resources with in-demand fields and workforce needs, and to promote operational efficiencies,” Schuller said in an email.

The college eliminated what she described as “under enrolled programs.” It also launched “market-savvy programs” and more manufacturing, online and “unconventional” options, Schuller said.

The programs the college stopped were in theater, communication and graphic design.

The programs that Lake Erie added were in cybersecurity, data science and nutrition, Schuller said. It is also adding an exercise science program, pending approval from the accrediting body.

She added that the college integrated its arts and humanities programming into the core curriculum “to ensure breadth while focusing institutional resources on high-growth sectors.”

Dealing with challenges

According to Schuller, higher education as a whole is being challenged by a decline in enrollment and questions about whether a degree is worth it. Lake Erie College is facing more competition for recruitment and retention.

The academic changes were one strategy to deal with those challenges. She said that Lake Erie also created a Center for Career and Workforce Development under full-time executive director Amy Sabath.

Sabath “is tasked with working with local employers to create internships and jobs for our students and address workforce needs for employers in the region,” Schuller said.

Other strategies included selecting a dean of academic and student success and enlarging the Learning Commons space, which Schuller described as “a one-stop shop for all curricular and co-curricular support for students.”

She said that “archaic operational processes” also posed a challenge for recruiting and retaining students. The college implemented personnel changes to place “the right people in the right positions to guarantee the LEC experience is the best one possible.”

“As a result, we saw a 6.7 percent increase in retention of our first-year students year over year,” Schuller said.

Enrollment and finances

The college’s enrollment increased from 942 students in fall 2023 to 1,162 students in 2024 and 1,281 students in 2025, Schuller said. She expects more growth in fall 2026, because the college’s deposits are up 102 percent.

“Students continue to seek degrees in programs that lead to jobs,” she said. “We continue to see growth in our business and education programs, for example, but also, thanks to the ODHE (Ohio Department of Higher Education) and the Choose Ohio First program we have seen a significant increase in our upper-level science courses and academic offerings.”

The college also said that Schuller had a $5.8 million deficit when she took office in 2023. It added that it “reduced this by almost half” in 2025 and expects to be out of deficit spending by the end of the current fiscal year.

The college also celebrated raising $8.2 million during the fiscal year that ended on June 30. Schuller described it as “one of the most significant fundraising milestones in the institution’s history” and said the money will contribute to academic programs, student support, facilities and long-term sustainability.

Looking ahead

Lake Erie College is planning to launch a one-year, $17 million “boutique fundraising campaign” to celebrate the college’s 170th year, Schuller said. The funding will support college operations, campus improvements and other uses.

She said the college also hopes it will soon have accreditation to launch its exercise science program. It has hired two full-time faculty members for the program and plans to provide concentrations in strength and conditioning, exercise physiology and allied health.

The course will be in a new state-funded wing that will include “state-of-the-art equipment and technology,” Schuller added.

Lake Erie is also looking into future educational programs, she said. It is considering a potential artificial intelligence minor that would be available as soon as fall 2026 and expanded programs like veterinary science. It will also likely offer three-year bachelor degree programs.

She is working with leaders at Auburn Career Center and Lakeland Community College to provide “on and off ramps for all levels of education” in Lake County.

Challenges in the coming year will include enrollment competition with other colleges and universities, deferred maintenance and balancing the budget, Schuller said.

Other highlights

Schuller added that other highlights from 2025 included:

• National recognition for its school of education and physician assistant program;

• New partnerships with Bowling Green State University and Gannon University for pathways to a doctor of physical therapy degree;

• The launch of the Cuyahoga Connect Scholarship for students from Cuyahoga County, which she said is similar to the Tri-County Scholarship for students from Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties;

• Partnerships with community groups including HOLA Ohio;

• Participation in events like area science fairs;

• Completion by the first two cohorts of the college’s welding program at Perry High School, with all students passing qualification testing;

• Addition of a part-time Arts and Culture Director, which “reinvigorated music and theater programming”;

• Entering an agreement to offer in-person mental health services for students and community members;

• Creation of an intramural sports program;

• Opening a new turf field that the women’s soccer team credited for a winning season, with the college desiring to complete a phase two and transfer all field sports to the campus when money is raised;

• Achievements in the equestrian program that included enrollment growth, creation of a new concentration for equine fitness management and rehabilitation, completion of a donor-funded fencing project and placement of all graduates in industry positions immediately after graduation; and

• Students accomplishments like designing a prosthetic leg for an injured goat, contributing to shark research, creating a new literary magazine and more.

“Lake Erie College students continued to distinguish themselves through exceptional accomplishments,” Schuller said.