Pressures Mount at Cash-Strapped Clinton College

With the fall semester just weeks away, one of the nation’s smallest historically Black colleges is fighting to keep its doors open — and its employees paid.

Clinton College, founded in 1894 and home to roughly 126 students as of the last federal headcount, has missed or delayed payroll for its 86 employees for months. Some staff are now owed thousands of dollars in back wages. Health insurance coverage lapsed after the college fell behind on premium payments. And still, employees say, they’re expected to show up to work.

The trouble didn’t start overnight. Internal emails show college officials first warned staff of payroll delays in late April, and the situation has deteriorated steadily since. By early June, President Pamela Richardson Wilks was telling employees the college could only cover a fraction of what it owed — reportedly as little as $1,000 per person toward a full month’s pay.

Clinton’s finances have been strained for years, not just months. The college has posted operating losses in each of the last three fiscal years, according to public filings, and its enrollment has hovered below 200 students for most of the past decade. A food-service vendor sued the college in 2024 over unpaid bills.

Yet even as paychecks went unmet, the college continued spending on other priorities — including, according to current and former employees, the president’s inauguration — and kept posting job openings on its website. That contrast has fueled frustration among staff who say leadership hasn’t been straight with them about the scale of the problem.

For now, Clinton College’s leadership says resolving the payroll backlog remains a top priority, and the college has reportedly floated a five-year fundraising plan aimed at alumni, religious organizations, and corporate partners. Whether that materializes in time to matter is an open question. With classes set to resume in a matter of weeks, the college faces a narrowing window to reassure employees, satisfy regulators, and convince its accreditor that it has a credible path back to stability, before the fall semester puts every one of those pressures under an even brighter spotlight.