PORTLAND -- The president of Portland's Cascade College says the decision to close after 15 years is a sign of how the economic downturn threatens small private colleges.

Bill Goad had been president of the small Christian College for six years and says private colleges with fewer than 500 students usually lack a large alumni pool and depend instead on private donations.

That money dries up when the economy goes sour, he said, noting that Cascade's debt of $4 million would grow quickly if the school of 280 students stayed open.

He says there aren't enough residential full-time students for that type of college.

He said other small Christian colleges also have closed or plan to.

Cascade College will close at the end of the 2009 spring semester. Formerly known as Columbia Christian College, the campus was founded in 1956 but closed in the early 1990s because of financial issues.

Oklahoma Christian took over operations and reopened it as Cascade College in August 1994 as a branch campus of the Oklahoma City university.

Cascade has been best known for its teacher education program.

At its height it had 340 students.