Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[spork]

Franklin College (IN), budget deficits every fiscal year since 2009 except for 2012 and 2018 (when it broke even because of stock sales), and an alleged pedophile as (now former) president:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/14/us/franklin-college-president-thomas-minar.html.

[Golazo]

What's the deal with Cottey College? Whenever contributions fall below gross tuition its net revenue goes negative, and it's got a discount rate of ~ 50%. Undergraduate FTE fell from 345 in 2009 to 266 in 2018. How long can it operate off a $110 million endowment and donations without students?

When I was doing my big, 50+ jobs search, Cottey had an opening. I looked at it and thought "there are worse things than an unstable non-academic job, and this is one of them." Between location and finances...

[spork]

Desperate for students? Advertise "free tuition" for local high school graduates if they live on campus. Georgetown College (KY): https://www.educationdive.com/news/as-enrollment-declines-loom-one-liberal-arts-college-is-banking-on-free-tu/570533/.

From FY 2010 through FY 2018, Georgetown College had budget deficits in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2018. In FY 2016, the positive net revenue was $84K on a $49 million budget.

[spork]

Roosevelt University's skyscraper isn't the money magnet people though it would be:

https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/business-finance/article/20852695/highrise-construction-leads-to-financial-difficulty-at-roosevelt-university.

[apl68]

Roosevelt University's skyscraper isn't the money magnet people though it would be:

https://www.asumag.com/facilities-management/business-finance/article/20852695/highrise-construction-leads-to-financial-difficulty-at-roosevelt-university.

A "vertical campus" is certainly an interesting idea.  Makes me want to take a tour now, just out of curiosity.  But yes, it sounds like an expensive gamble that hasn't been paying off.

[apl68]

The Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee has voted to issue subpoenas to former Henderson State University President Glen Jones Jr; former VP for finance and administration Brett Powell; and Board of Trustees chairman Johnny Hudson.

The university is also now seeking another $3 million line of credit.  They've already cut pay for about 75% of university employees.

And yet enrollment is actually up somewhat.


https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/jan/25/audit-panelists-vote-to-summon-hsu-ex-o/

[Hibush]

The Arkansas Legislative Joint Auditing Committee has voted to issue subpoenas to former Henderson State University President Glen Jones Jr; former VP for finance and administration Brett Powell; and Board of Trustees chairman Johnny Hudson.

The university is also now seeking another $3 million line of credit.  They've already cut pay for about 75% of university employees.

And yet enrollment is actually up somewhat.


https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/jan/25/audit-panelists-vote-to-summon-hsu-ex-o/

"About $4 million of the school's $4.9 million shortfall last fiscal year was comprised of outstanding student debt"

Enrollment may have been up, but that only helps if the students pay their bursar bill.

[Hegemony]

I'm disappointed to hear about Cottey College and about Franklin College, as I have distant connections to both of them. But I suppose that's the risk of being a small regional college in these times.  I hope they can hang on.

[lcburgundy]

Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close

https://archpaper.com/2020/01/taliesin-to-close/

According to a statement by the Foundation, the decision to close the esteemed institution was made because the school "did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operations as an accredited program."

[apostrophe]

Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close

https://archpaper.com/2020/01/taliesin-to-close/

According to a statement by the Foundation, the decision to close the esteemed institution was made because the school "did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operations as an accredited program."

!!

I read the article and learned nothing, really. The problem must be money--but in what way?

[wellfleet]

Cottey College is owned by a nationwide philanthropic organization that was founded at Iowa Wesleyan in 1869. I am sad to see both institutions struggle in the current environment. The PEO Sisterhood might be able to prop up Cottey for a while, but there will be limits there, too. Their decrease in enrollment is certainly not a good sign.

[wellfleet]

 date corrected above

[spork]

U Maine system moves toward unified accreditation of all campuses in response to declining enrollment and lack of state funding:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/28/maine-university-system-moves-ahead-unified-accreditation.

[Hibush]

Frank Lloyd Wright's School of Architecture at Taliesin will close

https://archpaper.com/2020/01/taliesin-to-close/

According to a statement by the Foundation, the decision to close the esteemed institution was made because the school "did not have a sustainable business model that would allow it to maintain its operations as an accredited program."

!!

I read the article and learned nothing, really. The problem must be money--but in what way?

One of the problems has been that the place has been driven by acolytes of Wright and adherents of his impractical organizational style. Tt has been difficult to maintain an institution that way sixty years after the charismatic leader's death. Wright's buildings and organizations both require an incredible amount of expensive maintenance, so the operating costs are far higher than conventional ones.

Here is a clip from a 2005 NY Times article that gives some relevant background:

Academic recognition came only in 1987, when the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture received accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission, a regional organization. In 1997 the National Architectural Accrediting Board also approved accreditation, enabling the school to grant architectural degrees.

But some people in the architecture world say that despite the accreditation and Wright's accomplishments and fame, Taliesin West has lost its way.

"It's an architectural theme park," said Reed Kroloff, dean of the architecture school at Tulane University, adding that "the rigid adherence to Wright's system is destroying the institution." Graduates of Taliesin, Mr. Kroloff said, "have to struggle to place themselves in the larger architectural community."

[backatit]

U Maine system moves toward unified accreditation of all campuses in response to declining enrollment and lack of state funding:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/01/28/maine-university-system-moves-ahead-unified-accreditation.

Maine will be interesting to watch. I've been surprised that they didn't make a push to stronger online programs, tbh (I'm from there, although I didn't go to college there, so I'm familiar with some of the challenges students face in campus selection). ALL of my nieces and nephews are in UofM schools, and they face significant hardships finding course offerings, internship opportunities, etc., even in common fields. The differences between South and North there are so marked, I'm interested to see how they handle this.