Apr 23, 2014 01:38 PM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Westminster College of Missouri will close its new Arizona campus after the spring semester, Inside Higher Ed reported.

The Mesa, Ariz. attracted attention in academic circles when established colleges from the East and Midwest began setting branches there.  But Westminster College is shutting down its operations after only one academic year based on a current assessment of that market.

"Unfortunately, despite the excellent experience that our students have had there, our numbers had not been what we had expected them to be," George Forsythe, president of Westminster College, said in a YouTube video.  

The demand did not meet the student numbers necessary to sustain Mesa operations as quickly as school officials had anticipated. Keeping the campus open also would not have been "financially prudent" for the school to proceed, according to school officials.

"We made this decision for the best interest of the entire Westminster College community," Forsythe said.

The college is currently working with the Higher Learning Commission to develop a plan to assist the students at the Mesa campus, so they may continue their education.

"Now we are working carefully with our students in Mesa on a ... plan in coordination with the  Higher Learning Commission ... so that our students in Mesa will either be able to transfer here, to the Fulton Campus [in Missouri], or we will work with them to place them in other higher education institutes," Forsythe said.

The Arizona of Westminter College  branch was part of Westminster's Strategic Plan 2020 to develop and implement new educational ventures to serve new constituencies, the Mesa campus was the first-ever campus expansion for the College, established in 1851. Westminster is currently conducting an in-depth market research study, exploring additional options for growth.

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