Libby Plath, a psychology sophomore at Finlandia University, talks with Jordyn Meyer, an admissions counselor for University of Minnesota-Morris at Monday’s Teach-Out and Transfer Fair in Houghton. (Garrett Neese photo)

HANCOCK — When higher-education institutions close, fewer than half of students continue their schooling somewhere else, according to a National Student Clearinghouse and State Higher Education Executive Officers Association study released last year.

Finlandia University is hoping to best those numbers — both through agreements with other universities, and through opportunities such as Monday’s Student Teach-Out and Transfer Fair.

More than 25 colleges and universities came to Monday’s event, said Anthony Schwass, dean of enrollment at Finlandia.

“Making sure that students have a next available home for a higher education institution is something that we really wanted to focus on from the very beginning … so we got everybody together, got them face to face with our students, so they can talk about those options,” he said.

Five universities have finalized teachout agreements with Finlandia, including Bay College, Michigan Technological University and Northern Michigan University. The agreements guarantee students can transfer all of their Finlandia credits to the new university, while paying the same or less as they would have at Finlandia.

Some universities with other transfer agreements will match some accepting credits and even financial aid, Schwass said.

Most institutions at Monday’s event were from the upper Midwest, though some came from as far away as Nebraska, Schwass said.

Libby Plath, a second-year psychology major from Minneapolis, stopped to talk with a representative from University of Minnesota – Morris. She’d also had good talks with Northland College and the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

“They’re closer to home, and they have everything I want there, so it was a good conversation so far,” she said.

Northland and Morris both have psychology majors, though Plath said she’d also be open to a marketing major with a psychology minor.

Whichever one she chooses, it’ll happen soon, she said. As a hockey and soccer player at Finlandia, she’s hoping to continue playing sports at her new college.

“I have to decide pretty quickly,” she said.

It had been a stressful scramble for students trying to figure out what next year would look like, said Diego Agosto, a freshman majoring in criminal justice. But Monday, he’d seen a lot of schools that were affordable and offered programs comparable to what Finlandia offered.

“If they don’t have any major they have a lot of similar majors that are like it,” he said.

He and other football players said they were looking for a school that was good in both football and academics, while also not exceeding their tuition at Finlandia.

Davon Hall, a second-year sports management major, was leaning toward Albion College, which was only a 45-minute drive from home.

“I can play football, plus it’s affordable,” he said.