Sweet Briar College in Virginia to close because of financial challenges

Washington

FOR more than a century, Sweet Briar College has offered women a liberal arts education in a pastoral setting near the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Equestrian programmes, a tight-knit residential community and, lately, an engineering science degree have been its hallmarks.

On Tuesday, the college's leadership abruptly announced its closure to stunned and tearful audiences of faculty and students. Officials cited "insurmountable financial challenges", saying the 700-student college, founded in 1901, would shut down permanently in August.