I'm not certain which small colleges you are describing, but nationwide small colleges are getting hammered and will continue to do so based on demographic trends.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2017/02/0...

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/30/us/small-colleges-losing-...

http://college.usatoday.com/2017/02/24/for-many-small-colleg...