Last weekend’s graduation ceremony meant the closing of a century-old college campus in Clinton, but investors have other plans for what was most recently Ashford University.
The campus was purchased about a decade ago by Bridgepoint Education, with their headquarters in San Diego, California. With the growing focus on their online education, the private-for-profit education company announced the closing of the Clinton campus at the end of this school year.
Earlier this year, a group of investors from around the country formed a group they called Clinton Catalyst and purchased the Ashford properties. Those properties include not only the campus but also a former hotel that was turned into a residence hall and golf course in which part of that was used for an athletic complex including a soccer and track facility.
The unused portion of the golf course has been sold to a local church and the remaining properties are being marketed by the new owners working with state and local officials.
(Reporting by Dave Vickers, KROS, Clinton)