The primary purpose of this research was to examine institutional characteristics of four-year, public colleges and universities that closed off-site locations between 2012 and 2019 through the lens of resource dependence theory. As institutions attempt to maximize their available resources and make the best use of existing resources, there will inevitably be moments where an off-site location will come into question. Over the eight years of the study, the US Department of Education recorded the closure of 7,508 educational locations across all types of educational institutions. This study examined the closure trends that existed for public colleges and universities across the period and looked for institutional characteristics associated with a heightened risk of closing off-site locations. The results of the study indicate that most of the public closures came from a small number of institutions, with 62% of the closed off-site locations coming from 18 of the 365 institutions in the study. After examining the overall trend, data was analyzed from 365 institutions across ten self-reported variables. These research findings indicate two primary variables that significantly affected the closure of off-site locations and suggest the struggle between the access mission of public universities and prestige-maximizing behavior can drive institutional decision making. The study concludes with recommendations for future research.