Tulane University announced on Jan. 5 that the university will be closing its School of Continuing Studies campus in Madison, Mississippi, pending approval by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

The campus will be shut down following the end of the spring 2017 semester.

Exact reasons for this decision remain unclear. According to the press release by the university, Tulane hopes that this transition will allow for more “focus on instructional sites located closer to its main campus in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast and on expanding its online courses.”

The university will help faculty and staff of Tulane’s Madison campus secure new employment opportunities.

108 students are currently enrolled at Tulane’s Madison campus and are involved in nine different undergraduate program areas. The students who will not finish their degree programs by the semester’s end will be provided with options for the continuation of their studies.

These students will be able to take classes at Belhaven University’s Madison campus, which has agreed to match Tulane’s tuition. Belhaven will also offer a support staff to help ease transitions through individualized attention financial aid.

Tulane created this option to ensure students can continue their studies at a nearby institution with a similar curriculum, resulting in minimal educational disruptions.

“Our agreement allows students to easily transfer course credits and enroll in comparable degree programs at Belhaven, which has been a leading institution for adult education in Mississippi for more than 30 years,” Suri Duitch, vice president for academic innovation and dean of continuing studies at Tulane University, said in a press release.

Students have options to transfer to other colleges in the region, take online SCS courses and study at Tulane’s Jackson and New Orleans campuses.

“Tulane has worked hard to put in place a quality option that will assure their students in Madison will be able to complete their education locally,” Belhaven University President Roger Parrott said. “Because of our shared commitment to quality and private higher education, we are happy to help Tulane when they decided to close their Madison campus. The leaders at Tulane have gone the extra mile to take care of their students.”