In 2016,&nbsp;763 higher-education institutions closed, including for-profit schools, according to the U.S. Department of Education.&nbsp;Attorneys general will have to navigate legal thickets to dispose of relatively tiny sums as small colleges close at rates more than three times higher than before the recession.<br /> <br /> They leave behind not just physical plants, but the shriveled remnants of endowments, which are a well of frustration for donors&rsquo; descendants, vendors&nbsp;owed money and bondholders. The biggest victims may be the states that have to expend mighty efforts to settle minuscule amounts of cash.