Higher Ed Mergers, Acquisitions, & Other Strategic Partnerships

Join the Higher Ed Strategic Partnership Hub today and receive our complimentary Mergers & Acquisitions Playbook.

Discover the power of strategic partnerships in higher education.

With the rapid changes in today’s higher ed landscape, strategic partnerships, such as mergers, acquisitions, and shared services, are becoming essential pathways to sustainability and growth. Does your institution know where to start?

As noted in our 2025 Higher Ed Outlook, 2024 saw a brisk increase in the rate of closures at private four-year colleges. The percentage of private colleges merging also has increased over the last few years. While this process is challenging, it doesn’t need to be painful. The higher education consulting team at Forvis Mazars offers strategic, experience-based guidance throughout the merger, acquisition, or strategic partnership life cycle.

The Merger & Acquisition Process

A summarization of the Merger and Aquisition process.

1. Strategy Development

In this stage, institutions assess their strategic objectives, and determine if merging, acquiring, or being acquired by another institution can help achieve these objectives. This involves a thorough analysis of the market, competitive landscape, and potential target institutions or programs. Strategy development aims to define the rationale behind a strategic partnership, whether it’s for market expansion, diversification, streamlining operations, or a lifeline from challenging financial contexts.

2. Target Identification & Evaluation

Once strategic objectives are clear, the next stage involves identifying and evaluating potential target institutions. This includes conducting an evaluation to assess their financial health, operational capabilities, and cultural fit. The goal is to shortlist institutions that align with the initiator’s strategic goals and have the potential to create value through the merger or acquisition.

3. Negotiation & Deal Structuring

When two or more institutions agree to explore a strategic partnership, the next stage is negotiation and deal structuring. This involves discussions between the institutions to agree on the transaction terms. Key aspects, such as the future of athletic programs and capital assets, are negotiated during this phase. Legal and financial advisors play a crucial role in helping craft a deal structure that aligns with regulatory and accreditation requirements and builds value for both parties.

4. Due Diligence

This critical stage involves an in-depth assessment of the business, financial, legal, and operational aspects of the institution being acquired or both institutions if merging. The objective is to identify potential risks, liabilities, or issues that could impact the transaction’s success. Due diligence provides a detailed understanding of the organization’s value and assists in making informed decisions.

5. Integration Planning

Once due diligence is complete and transaction terms are agreed upon, the important step of integration planning begins. This involves creating a detailed integration plan that outlines how the two institutions will combine their operations, systems, cultures, and programs. The goal is to achieve anticipated synergies and prioritize a smooth transition. Effective integration planning is crucial to helping realize the merger or acquisition’s full value.

6. Closing the Deal

The deal-closing stage involves finalizing all legal, financial, and regulatory requirements to complete the transaction. This includes obtaining necessary approvals from board members, regulatory authorities, and other stakeholders. The closing process also includes transferring assets, liabilities, and ownership to the acquiring institution. Successful deal closure requires meticulous planning and coordination to help confirm all conditions are met.

7. Regulatory Approval

Navigating the regulatory landscape in higher education merger and acquisition activity is a multifaceted process that demands meticulous planning and compliance. By addressing key elements such as accreditation, state authorization, federal requirements, governance, financial stability, stakeholder communication, and labor law compliance, institutions can receive the necessary regulatory approvals to successfully execute their mergers and acquisitions. Adherence to these regulatory requirements not only helps facilitate a smooth transition but also upholds the integrity and quality of higher education.

8. Post-Merger Integration

Post-merger integration is the final stage of the merger and acquisition process, focusing on combining the operations, systems, and cultures of the two institutions. This phase aims to achieve the synergies and value envisioned during the strategy development stage. Effective integration requires continuous monitoring, communication, and management of the integration process. The success of this stage determines the overall success of the transaction.

We Can Be Your Guide

Our team has extensive experience serving more than 300 colleges and universities across the United States—from small, private colleges to large, public universities. With a global breadth of resources and local depth of industry knowledge, we can support your merger, acquisition, or strategic partnership from beginning to end.

By combining the industry-specific experience of our Higher Education Consulting team with the extensive major transaction knowledge of our Merger & Acquisition Services Team, we offer a full suite of services to usher institutions throughout the merger or acquisition process.

These services include:

Strategic Partnership Hub

With shifting demographics, increasing industry pressures, and a complex regulatory environment, higher education institutions should act now to stay strong and mission focused. Strategic partnerships are a viable option for many institutions, but it can be challenging to know where to start. Learn how our Strategic Partnership Hub can help.

Join the Hub

Financial & Scenario Modeling

Our dynamic, agile forecasting helps you create, manage, and visualize different assumptions and initiatives that can provide real-time analysis and integrated presentations of financial statements, cash flow projections, and ratio analysis. This resource can help create a clearer picture of your financial situation as you approach the strategic planning and due diligence processes.

Strategic Planning

Your strategic plan is like a road map. Based on our bold foresight and experience across multiple industries, we begin with a discovery period to learn more about your institution and its goals.

Then, we synergize those goals with your mission and available resources, helping you facilitate a plan that’s aspirational and attainable. This can be anything from strategic growth based on your current strengths to finding a path forward as part of another institution if your financial position is untenable.

Finally, we collaborate to help you develop a path forward with measurable key performance indicators to keep the plan on track.

Due Diligence Support

Whether you’re merging with another institution, acquiring, or being acquired, performing due diligence helps avoid surprises and ensures all parties are aligned on the assets and risks associated with each party involved. Our team of professionals understands the complexities of your potential transaction and has the experience that allows for a consultative, rather than a cookie-cutter, approach.

Change Management

Whether you’re acquiring another institution, merging with a peer, or being acquired by another college or university, your faculty, staff, students, and community will feel the change. Managing it well is key to a successful strategic partnership.

IT Due Diligence

When considering a merger or acquisition, it’s crucial to have a team of practitioners who grasp the intricacies of your impending deal. Our professionals possess the experience, knowledge, and skills to provide a consultative approach that is adaptable and customized to meet your unique requirements. We’re experienced in providing IT due diligence that is based on your thesis of the institution’s value drivers. We collaborate with you to determine the most suitable scope of work.

Typical focus includes procedures aimed at identifying and quantifying these three areas:

One-time expenditures that may be required to remediate significant deficiencies or upgrades to the IT systems
The difference in required IT spending (up or down) compared with current levels
Significant institutional risks being driven by the IT function

Post-Merger Integration

A merger isn’t complete once all parties sign an agreement. Facilitating a merger that helps reduce friction and incorporates the best of each legacy institution can be essential to success.

We can work with your team post-merger to help promote effective integration in these areas:

Systems & Technology
Policies & Procedures
Leadership Team
Organizational Design

Join Our Higher Ed Strategic Partnership Hub

Regardless of your institution’s financial position, we recommend regularly examining the possibility of creating strategic partnerships with other institutions to strengthen your position. We recognize it can be difficult to even know where to start exploring possibilities. That’s why we created the Higher Ed Strategic Partnership Hub.

Join the Hub today to schedule a complimentary, 90-minute strategy session with a professional from Forvis Mazars to discuss your goals and approach to exploring strategic partnerships for your institution. By joining the Hub, you’ll receive a monthly newsletter with relevant, timely updates on strategic partnership trends in higher education.

Hub members also gain a copy of our Mergers & Acquisitions Playbook. This guide was created for higher education institution leaders aiming to achieve long-term financial sustainability, advance their mission, or grow through merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. It offers actionable insights, objectives, processes, and tools to support your higher education M&A decisions.

Higher Education Mergers & Acquisition Playbook Images