Ohio Dominican University failed to make a scheduled bond payment due March 1, marking the latest financial distress signal from the Columbus-based Catholic liberal arts college. The missed payment was disclosed by UMB Bank, trustee for bondholders, in a regulatory filing. The university has been confronting deficits for years, with enrollment dropping about 15% since 2021 to 1,139 students.

This default follows a pattern of financial pressure on higher education institutions, with at least five colleges announcing closures or acquisitions this year. Religious schools like Providence Christian College and Lourdes University have faced similar enrollment challenges, appealing to niche markets. Several institutions have recently received credit downgrades citing demographic constraints and enrollment declines.

Ohio Dominican sold municipal bonds in 2018, with about $47 million of that debt still outstanding. Last year, the university tapped a debt service reserve fund to make a bond payment, a step investors view as a distress signal. The school's leadership team and board of trustees have worked to reduce deficits over the prior three fiscal years, according to a November filing, and has cooperated with bondholders to address long-term debt.