In 1998, the University of London announced that it would be terminating the "Associated Institute" status that the College and three other small institutions enjoyed. Jews' College was forced to seek an academic partner within the University in order to be able to continue its degree programmes. Without the freedom to determine its own curriculum and the financial security that came from student fee income, it became increasingly difficult for the College to survive in its previous form. Rabbinic training was also uneconomic as many students looked to the Torah centres of Israel and America for their education and the number of available rabbinic posts in the UK decreased.