Others point to still another challenge: While the likes of Harvard University attract plenty of rich kids, small religious colleges often cater to students who are less well-off and offer discounts on tuition. That strategy has stretched those schools’ finances to the breaking point.

Students at troubled colleges are being left in a lurch.

Faith Younce spent two years at Iowa Wesleyan, only to be forced to come up with a Plan B.

“It’s really hard to trust another small school,” said Younce, who now attends Culver-Stockton College in Missouri.

Bigger, richer colleges are another story. At the Roman Catholic Villanova University, a sports powerhouse in Pennsylvania, admissions have become more selective. Evangelical Liberty University, where the honor code prohibits alcohol and same-sex relationships, is also thriving: Its endowment now exceeds $2 billion.

Many Evangelical colleges are luring students by playing up their Christian roots, conservative values and, in some cases, Republican politics.

“The real divide between success and failure in this market is the extent to which a school presents a clear Christian identity,” said P. Jesse Rine, an expert on Christian higher education.

Back at little Notre Dame College, Ivan Maric, a student-athlete on the football team, is worried he’ll lose his scholarship if the college closes and he has to change schools. Fellow students at Notre Dame, home of the Falcons, are in the same boat.

“We have no idea what the future is,” Maric said.

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