VT and ME are the 2 poorest and least populated States in NE.

Spouse is 20yrs in VSC (now VSU) academic support. It's heartbreaking to see the impact, on students and staff alike, happening in response to hard ground truths. The decline has been long and steady. VT has more 1st gen students than most anywhere in the north; State support for higher ed is paltry. K-12 is facing class shrinkage and higher costs, while depending on federal monies which is increasingly shifting to supporting/vouchering charter and privatized/religious education.

Meanwhile, since 2020 most students have gotten jiggy with the online world. Many/most will admit they don't go to libraries for the books. Newer genZ and beyond will be moreso.

To make matters worse, all the funding that goes into K-12 (including your edu taxes) does little more than make someplace else more literate; considering over 50% leave upon graduation.

And I doubt things will improve until such time as there are more jobs paying livable wages for new grads looking to make a life here; which flies in the face of rural VT being a mostly boring place to grow up or be single in (e.g. why they left in the 1st place). Specially under the mounting pressure of gentrification, high COL, sparse housing and rising wealth inequality.

I don't envy the Chancellors office or their board facing these tough calls, regardless of the politics or finances behind it.

The 'conjoining' of Johnson and Lyndonville into NVU tried to put a band-aid on a bullet wound. The 'new' president resulted in overworked over-commuted faculty and staff and shifted many of the the desirable majors from J to L; despite Lyndonville having a much poorer track record than Johnson.

To me, this is an indicator that the Johnson campus is on the chopping block; mostly by virtue of its campus being too far off the beaten track. That ultimately VSU will be VTC, Castleton and Lyndonville based, but virtualized throughout the State.

RE: internet - maybe starlink will help (but F EL just the same)