Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[spork]

Not truly dire, but Lesley University needs to downsize a lot more than just four majors that have a handful of students:
https://www.highereddive.com/news/lesley-university-to-lay-off-faculty-as-it-phases-out-4-degrees/697557/.

Birmingham-Southern University will close in a year or two, unless someone like Anthony Welters gives it $50 million, which is doubtful since no one at Birmingham-Southern is on the Supreme Court.

[Wahoo Redux]

U of Wisconsin-Platteville to lay off 111; UW-Oshkosh lays off 200

[Hibush]

U of Wisconsin-Platteville to lay off 111; UW-Oshkosh lays off 200

That reduction, which will continue, is the intended goal of the legislature in 2015. Closures in the Wisconsin system, unlike many others, can be attributed to the purposeful strangling in the form of a big deficit budget with no action permitted to close the deficit while continuing operations.

[treeoflife]

https://www.al.com/opinion/2023/10/randall-woodfin-more-than-ever-birmingham-cant-afford-to-lose-birmingham-southern-college.html
Birmingham-Southern University might stand a chance (or not)

[Wahoo Redux]

https://www.al.com/opinion/2023/10/randall-woodfin-more-than-ever-birmingham-cant-afford-to-lose-birmingham-southern-college.html
Birmingham-Southern University might stand a chance (or not)

It does surprise me that there are not more economic impact studies done on dying colleges.  Our current city will be devastated if the university crumbles.

[sonoamused]

https://www.al.com/opinion/2023/10/randall-woodfin-more-than-ever-birmingham-cant-afford-to-lose-birmingham-southern-college.html
Birmingham-Southern University might stand a chance (or not)

It does surprise me that there are not more economic impact studies done on dying colleges.  Our current city will be devastated if the university crumbles.

A PhD student I worked with was very surprised to find the same for his lit review.  The economic and social impact of closed colleges on the local area is really understudied. 

[AmLitHist]

In today's IHE newsletter, the opening paragraph of this article gave me pause: rather than being relatively rare one-offs, the cuts to programs and faculty are becoming so usual that a dedicated "round up" is now IHE's plan for reporting them individually.

I wonder how long until my place appears on that list.  We're constantly told how great things are, and faculty were given huge raises in our latest contract (though we've had virtually none over the past 20 years--certainly not enough to match inflation in those years, particularly when the cost of our share of our health insurance has skyrocketed). There's also a major building boom across our district, to the tune of millions and millions of dollars based on a recent referendum raising taxes--yet property values and population in many parts of our service area are falling like a stone, and inflation in the cost of building materials and construction labor are rising steeply. A cynic might posit that those raises and inflation might be handy excuses if/when the bottom actually falls out, a sort of ready-made explanation to absolve the current Admin's responsibility for their own mismanagement.

[Hibush]

In a switch on the usual story we have this.

The University of Arizona is suddenly missing $240 million. President Robbins says, "the athletics department is going to require some draconian cuts"

I don't think UofA is going down the tubes, but it is interesting to see the travails of a flagship that is faring well otherwise. Having athletics take the first hit sets it apart from other Power 5 schools.

What is familiar is that net tuition is too low. "the university has been losing money from its generous financial-aid policies. It costs around $20,000 a year to educate each student, but in-state students pay an average of $5,000.And students with high-school grade-point averages above 3.75 pay nothing."

[marshwiggle]

In a switch on the usual story we have this.

The University of Arizona is suddenly missing $240 million. President Robbins says, "the athletics department is going to require some draconian cuts"

I don't think UofA is going down the tubes, but it is interesting to see the travails of a flagship that is faring well otherwise. Having athletics take the first hit sets it apart from other Power 5 schools.

What is familiar is that net tuition is too low. "the university has been losing money from its generous financial-aid policies. It costs around $20,000 a year to educate each student, but in-state students pay an average of $5,000.And students with high-school grade-point averages above 3.75 pay nothing."

In a blinding flash of the obvious:

"We lose money on everyone," he said. "I have not really understood that as well as I should have."

How could the president be this oblivious to the financial realities?

[Hibush]

In a switch on the usual story we have this.

The University of Arizona is suddenly missing $240 million. President Robbins says, "the athletics department is going to require some draconian cuts"

I don't think UofA is going down the tubes, but it is interesting to see the travails of a flagship that is faring well otherwise. Having athletics take the first hit sets it apart from other Power 5 schools.

What is familiar is that net tuition is too low. "the university has been losing money from its generous financial-aid policies. It costs around $20,000 a year to educate each student, but in-state students pay an average of $5,000.And students with high-school grade-point averages above 3.75 pay nothing."

In a blinding flash of the obvious:

"We lose money on everyone," he said. "I have not really understood that as well as I should have."

How could the president be this oblivious to the financial realities?

Even for an R1 like Arizona (444 PhDs and $770 million in R&D), the enterprise budget for undergraduate education (40,000 students) needs to at least break even.

The internal budget model needs to reflect that requirement. The story shows that the current financial model makes it necessary for Arizona to end the money-hemorraging practice of admitting students with a high-school GPA over 3.75. But doing so may conflict with other institutional priorities.

[dismalist]

As usual with financial reporting from higher ed, none of this makes sense. It seems the wake-up call came because cash-on-hand was lower than planned. [Not unusual if you raid the piggy bank for pet projects.] But more to the point, how the hell do you have lots of cash-on-hand when you're making losses on each student?

All this is internally contradictory.

[marshwiggle]

As usual with financial reporting from higher ed, none of this makes sense. It seems the wake-up call came because cash-on-hand was lower than planned. [Not unusual if you raid the piggy bank for pet projects.] But more to the point, how the hell do you have lots of cash-on-hand when you're making losses on each student?

All this is internally contradictory.

It's not even just "losses".

"And students with high-school grade-point averages above 3.75 pay nothing."

What percentage of students at most places get a free ride???

(Depending on how long this policy has been in place, I'm going to guess that, "surprisingly", lots of local high school students now get a 3.75 GPA.)

[kaysixteen]

Arizona's low/free tuition policies for in-state kids *sound* generous, but that's probably because most of us, including not only millennials, but Gen Xers and Boomers like most of us (who recall when things were different), have grown inured to the astoundingly high, over-the-rate-of inflation, inflated tuitions we now see, but it is important to recall, nonetheless, that such policies were the norm that most Boomers (let alone older-than-boomers) got from state schools traditionally.  Thus, most old-timers who see things like the current AU policy and huff and puff with outrage, but those amongst them who actually went to a public (and many many times also a private) college, well... let's just say they doth protest too much.

[Hibush]

Arizona's low/free tuition policies for in-state kids *sound* generous, but that's probably because most of us, including not only millennials, but Gen Xers and Boomers like most of us (who recall when things were different), have grown inured to the astoundingly high, over-the-rate-of inflation, inflated tuitions we now see, but it is important to recall, nonetheless, that such policies were the norm that most Boomers (let alone older-than-boomers) got from state schools traditionally.  Thus, most old-timers who see things like the current AU policy and huff and puff with outrage, but those amongst them who actually went to a public (and many many times also a private) college, well... let's just say they doth protest too much.

If a state determines that is is good for society and its economy to have a well-educated population, then sending all the smart and motivated kids to college makes great sense. Covering the cost from state funds achieves that. California did that in the 1950s and 60s. That also seems to be Arizona's intent. If the policy intends to support e.g. 10,000 students (those who have a high enough GPA), and it costs U of A $20k each, the legislature needs to provide the university with $200 million specifically for that program. On top of the other support to run the university. The schools financial straits appear when the legislature doesn't do that.

[Hibush]

Fresno Pacific U is shuttering 16 programs and consolidating colleges.

This is a small (and getting smaller) religious school in what passes for a rural area in California. Fresno has "only" half a million people.

They are cutting an unusual combination of core subjects and attempts to be trendy.

• Bachelor's in Computer information systems
• M.A. in sports administration
• M.A. in theology, Old Testament.

They are consolidating continuing departments from these units

• School of Business
• School of Education
• School of Natural Sciences
• Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary 
• School of Humanities, Religion and Social Sciences

into an undergraduate School of Arts and Sciences and a graduate School of Graduate and Professional Studies.

The faculty is shrinking by 10% in response to a 35% drop in enrollment fron 2700 to 1700.