🪦 I Hate It When We’re Right
Posted on universitydeathpool.com
Limestone University has officially announced it will shutter in-person operations after 179 years of service — and unfortunately, we saw this one coming.
Ranked #736 out of 759 in our Collegiate Survivability Index (CSI), Limestone sat near the bottom of our national rankings for private, not-for-profit institutions. With a CSI score of 0.376 and a projected endowment of negative $36.3 million by 2028, the statistical writing was already on the chapel wall.
Yes, Limestone was a religious university — officially listed as Interdenominational in its Department of Education records. And yes, we hate being right about this.
🧠At University Deathpool, we track financial vulnerability with the same clinical detachment Dr. House used diagnosing rare diseases — but that doesn’t mean we cheer when a school flatlines.
Every university closure is a funeral for dreams, traditions, faculty jobs, and future students who will now go somewhere else — or go nowhere at all.
📉Limestone’s Vital Stats:
- Academic Efficiency Score: 0.25
- Market Saturation Score: 0.41
- Adjusted CFI (aCFI): 0.41
- CSI Quantile: 2 out of 8 (Critical Condition)
By the numbers, Limestone was in trouble. By the headlines, now it’s confirmed.
We created this model — and this website — not to predict demise, but to prevent it. Schools like Limestone deserved a warning system. Our hope is that by shining a light on data, other institutions can find a path to revival, not ruin.
🕯️So tonight, we light a virtual candle for Limestone University.
May it rest in peace — and may others take heed before they follow.
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And to the institutions lingering in the bottom two quantiles:
💼 It's time to schedule that meeting with your CFO.