Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[apl68]

St. Augustine's University is no longer making payroll.

The Forbes index is garbage.

SACSCOC rejected St. Augustine's appeal, it is now unaccredited. There is also a multimillion dollar tax lien against it. St. Augustine's will supposedly seek a court injunction against revocation of its accreditation, but in the world of reality, it needs to close.

And now they're threatening legal action against the accrediting agency:


https://www.wral.com/story/saint-augustine-s-university-has-its-accreditation-appeal-denied-school-plans-to-file-lawsuit/21302949/


They borrowed $7 million only a few months ago, and yet they've been having trouble making payroll.  Students have been complaining about the school not giving them their financial aid refunds.  They've stiffed several vendors on goods and services.  It's hard to see how a school in that shape would have any legal grounds to complain that the accrediting agency has lost confidence in them.

They're an HCBU with a long history.  This will be a sad loss.

[dismalist]

St. Augustine's University is no longer making payroll.

The Forbes index is garbage.

SACSCOC rejected St. Augustine's appeal, it is now unaccredited. There is also a multimillion dollar tax lien against it. St. Augustine's will supposedly seek a court injunction against revocation of its accreditation, but in the world of reality, it needs to close.

And now they're threatening legal action against the accrediting agency:


https://www.wral.com/story/saint-augustine-s-university-has-its-accreditation-appeal-denied-school-plans-to-file-lawsuit/21302949/


They borrowed $7 million only a few months ago, and yet they've been having trouble making payroll.  Students have been complaining about the school not giving them their financial aid refunds.  They've stiffed several vendors on goods and services.  It's hard to see how a school in that shape would have any legal grounds to complain that the accrediting agency has lost confidence in them.

They're an HCBU with a long history.  This will be a sad loss.

It's clear that St. Augustine liked to borrow $7 million. But why would anyone want to lend it to them?

[Hibush]

It's clear that St. Augustine liked to borrow $7 million. But why would anyone want to lend it to them?

And what lawyer would take them as a client to pursue the lawsuit when the lawyers's likelihood of getting paid is so low?

The world of high finance seems to find takers, where the rest of us would say, "Nobody, obviously."

[secundem_artem]

Honest question. No intention to troll or cause any trouble.

It seems that HBCU's are proportionally more likely to have serious financial problems than most other schools.  Students of color at all of those other schools seem to desire a more serious effort on the part of those other schools to create a more welcoming environment for students of color.

So.... is there some reason that BIPOC students who desire a more comfortable environment don't enroll at HBCUs?  It would seem to be beneficial for both students and schools.Presumably the more comfortable environment is pretty much a given at an HBCU?  Or is the selection of majors, location, or some other factor driving them to non-HBCU schools??

In Between the World and Me, Ta-Nahasi Coates describes his time at Howard as idyllic.  It would seem like HBCU's have something to offer.  So why the limited enrollment?

Again.... not trying to pick a fight here.  Just trying to figure out the logic.

[apl68]

More choice, for one thing.  Black students were long unwelcome anywhere besides HCBUs.  Now all colleges at least in principal welcome them, and some try really hard to recruit them.  Many of these schools can offer better opportunities for students than the average historically underfunded HCBU (And really, some of them have been shamefully underfunded), and so the HCBUs have lost much of their traditional constituency. Of the college-bound black students I've known personally here, I can't think of more than one or two who have gone to the region's HCBUs.

Some do still prefer an environment where they don't always have to feel like (and be) a minority.  But students who inspire to that distinctive HCBU environment seem to be getting spread pretty thin among the remaining HCBUs.  And HCBUs haven't produced as many millionaire/billionaire alumni who can serve as potential donors as a few of the ritziest SLACs have.

[marshwiggle]

More choice, for one thing.  Black students were long unwelcome anywhere besides HCBUs.  Now all colleges at least in principal welcome them, and some try really hard to recruit them.  Many of these schools can offer better opportunities for students than the average historically underfunded HCBU (And really, some of them have been shamefully underfunded), and so the HCBUs have lost much of their traditional constituency. Of the college-bound black students I've known personally here, I can't think of more than one or two who have gone to the region's HCBUs.

Some do still prefer an environment where they don't always have to feel like (and be) a minority.  But students who inspire to that distinctive HCBU environment seem to be getting spread pretty thin among the remaining HCBUs.  And HCBUs haven't produced as many millionaire/billionaire alumni who can serve as potential donors as a few of the ritziest SLACs have.

Fascinating. Are there any studies to compare the attitudes of black students at HCBUs and those at other places to see what proportion actually feel more comfortable when they're there, not just what they assumed in advance? Presumably over time that gap should narrow, and could even reverse if there are some things that are noticeably better at non-HCBU places.

[mythbuster]

It would be a fascinating study to look at students side by side at Florida State and Florida A+M. The two schools are literally abutting each other- with the literal and proverbial train tracks in between! Because they have the same location, it would control for at least the geographic variable.

[emera gratia]

Notre Dame College of Ohio to close after this semester; they tried to negotiate a merger with Cleveland State University, but apparently couldn't make it work.

[spork]

More choice, for one thing. 

[. . . ]

Many of these schools can offer better opportunities for students

[. . . ]

Same process for women's colleges. The Wellesleys and Bryn Mawrs, like Howard, can rely on their reputations and endowments. People still want to attend, even though they now have many other choices. But who wants to go to Tuition-Dependent Former Normal School when they can access better resources at State U., often at a lower price? Mills College fits this pattern:
https://activelearningps.com/2017/07/24/mills-college-when-the-bus-leaves-the-station-and-youre-not-on-it/

Notre Dame College of Ohio to close after this semester; they tried to negotiate a merger with Cleveland State University, but apparently couldn't make it work.

Another small Catholic college goes under. It was women-only until 2001.

[apl68]

Things definitely don't look good for Mills in light of that analysis.  It mentions that their endowment is 95% restricted.  Just out of curiosity, I wonder what sorts of things the restricted portions of the endowment are meant to pay for?  And to what extent are they things that perhaps no longer fit the college's needs?


I see from the article on Notre Dame that other little schools in the region are losing no time putting themselves forward as alternatives for the orphaned students.  Hope Notre Dame's ill wind at least blows them some good.  The school's closure will be a real economic blow to the town where it's based. 

I wonder what will happen to their campus?  Will it be repurposed?  Torn down and redeveloped into condominiums or low-income housing?  Abandoned and left to rot?

[spork]

Mills no longer exists. Northeastern bought the campus.

[apl68]

Oh yeah that's right, they're now "Mills College at Northeastern University."

[Parasaurolophus]

Manhattan College covers itself in more glory (or is it 'gory'?):

Nearly two dozen faculty members at Manhattan College, most of them tenured, got word last month that they were being laid off. The decision appeared to contradict the "last-in, first-out" approach laid out last fall by the New York college's administrators, in which the newest employees would be the first to go.

In what felt to some faculty members like a bait and switch, several senior professors who assumed their jobs weren't at risk now face termination, while more-junior scholars, who signed buyout agreements because they thought they would be dismissed under the policy, now find themselves unable to revoke those deals....

BUT! They're planning to open up a nursing program.

[Langue_doc]

Manhattan College covers itself in more glory (or is it 'gory'?):

Nearly two dozen faculty members at Manhattan College, most of them tenured, got word last month that they were being laid off. The decision appeared to contradict the "last-in, first-out" approach laid out last fall by the New York college's administrators, in which the newest employees would be the first to go.

In what felt to some faculty members like a bait and switch, several senior professors who assumed their jobs weren't at risk now face termination, while more-junior scholars, who signed buyout agreements because they thought they would be dismissed under the policy, now find themselves unable to revoke those deals....

BUT! They're planning to open up a nursing program.

Nursing programs seem to be quite profitable for institutions in and around NYC (just google nursing schools nyc). I can think of at least a couple of colleges that beefed up their nursing programs so that they could stay afloat.

[ciao_yall]

Manhattan College covers itself in more glory (or is it 'gory'?):

Nearly two dozen faculty members at Manhattan College, most of them tenured, got word last month that they were being laid off. The decision appeared to contradict the "last-in, first-out" approach laid out last fall by the New York college's administrators, in which the newest employees would be the first to go.

In what felt to some faculty members like a bait and switch, several senior professors who assumed their jobs weren't at risk now face termination, while more-junior scholars, who signed buyout agreements because they thought they would be dismissed under the policy, now find themselves unable to revoke those deals....

BUT! They're planning to open up a nursing program.

Nursing programs seem to be quite profitable for institutions in and around NYC (just google nursing schools nyc). I can think of at least a couple of colleges that beefed up their nursing programs so that they could stay afloat.

In our state funding model, nursing programs generate massive deficits so they are severely limited. Then we wonder why students go to slightly shady private schools with federal financial loans. Taxpayers are still paying for the programs.
 
SMDH.