Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[TreadingLife]

Instead of being "high touch", we form deep, personal relationships with our students.  Oops, still creepy. 

Only if it comes from a literature prof who's always going on and on about "eros." 



Isn't the Ursinus College article a satirical April Fool's Day article from the campus humor publication?

It is a joke. I missed that. I will edit my previous post. (Apparently I cannot update that post. Apologies for the oversight.)

[TreadingLife]

Hmmmm... exactly how much oversight does the average state govt (or the federales) place over the financial affairs/ mgmt of chartered private colleges in it?

My state is the only one in the country where the state education department has full control over what a private college can teach. Any time a private school wants to offer a new major, it has to be approved by the state, which includes a 30-day window in which any school, public or private, can object. The major proposal is a 50+ page document which has to go heavily into the financial need for a program, as well as the finances of the institution to support it. It takes anywhere from 4-6 months from submission to final approval.

It's HELL. They have tried to crack down in recent years on schools objecting out of spite, however, which has helped.

For other states, they may not have as heavy a burden but there still is a lot of reporting to state and federal authorities, as well as the annual fiscal audit which every institution must undergo. Make friends with your finance and IR offices if you want to know more about oversight - it's something many faculty don't understand and they love when people actually want to understand rather than just saying "bring in better and richer students".

At least Maryland has other things going for it.... kinda.

[TreadingLife]

Hmmmm... exactly how much oversight does the average state govt (or the federales) place over the financial affairs/ mgmt of chartered private colleges in it?

My state is the only one in the country where the state education department has full control over what a private college can teach. Any time a private school wants to offer a new major, it has to be approved by the state, which includes a 30-day window in which any school, public or private, can object. The major proposal is a 50+ page document which has to go heavily into the financial need for a program, as well as the finances of the institution to support it. It takes anywhere from 4-6 months from submission to final approval.

It's HELL. They have tried to crack down in recent years on schools objecting out of spite, however, which has helped.

For other states, they may not have as heavy a burden but there still is a lot of reporting to state and federal authorities, as well as the annual fiscal audit which every institution must undergo. Make friends with your finance and IR offices if you want to know more about oversight - it's something many faculty don't understand and they love when people actually want to understand rather than just saying "bring in better and richer students".

Here is a little background for anyone who is curious

https://marylandmatters.org/2023/08/15/workgroup-sets-sights-on-ways-to-fix-long-running-degree-duplication-concerns-at-maryland-colleges/

[jimbogumbo]

This is dire if you are in the College of General Studies: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/tenure/2024/08/08/decade-after-gop-bill-wiss-first-mass-tenured-faculty-layoff

[jonadam]

Wittenberg in Ohio is cutting 60% of the faculty for 2025-26. That sounds dire.

Deets:

• 1,288 undergraduate students and 45 graduate students
• 25 intercollegiate athletic teams in NCAA Division III.
• Finished $50 million athletic complex in 2019.
• $17 million operating deficit last year on $96 million budget.
• Only 25% of expenses are salaries
• Big cuts in political science, women's studies and sociology
• Faculty will be reduced from 97 to 40 after the coming academic year.
• Staff will be reduced during the coming year.
• AAUP says it is unethical to admit current matriculating class given the reduced offerings.

If you know any incoming seniors interested in Wittenberg, find them a backup school. One that won't go belly up while they're paying tuition.

[treeoflife]

We are going back to pre pandemic rates of closure.

[apl68]

Wittenberg in Ohio is cutting 60% of the faculty for 2025-26. That sounds dire.

Deets:

• 1,288 undergraduate students and 45 graduate students
• 25 intercollegiate athletic teams in NCAA Division III.
• Finished $50 million athletic complex in 2019.
• $17 million operating deficit last year on $96 million budget.
• Only 25% of expenses are salaries
• Big cuts in political science, women's studies and sociology
• Faculty will be reduced from 97 to 40 after the coming academic year.
• Staff will be reduced during the coming year.
• AAUP says it is unethical to admit current matriculating class given the reduced offerings.

If you know any incoming seniors interested in Wittenberg, find them a backup school. One that won't go belly up while they're paying tuition.

I guess that's a part of advising anymore--encouraging students to do their due diligence about making sure that a school they're interested in isn't on the verge of collapse.

[lightning]

This is dire if you are in the College of General Studies: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/tenure/2024/08/08/decade-after-gop-bill-wiss-first-mass-tenured-faculty-layoff

Two community colleges were forced to merge with University of Wisconsin's Milwaukee campus, but it looks like University of UW-Milwaukee never really treated their new colleagues as equals. Rather than welcoming the new faculty into the academic unit that corresponds to each absorbed faculty's discipline, UW-Milwaukee absorbed the community college faculty by taking the trouble to create a whole new academic unit for them, the College of General Studies. And now, UW-Milwaukee is going to eliminate the College of General Studies and the faculty in that college.

This travesty tops them all. University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee can blame Scott Walker and the state's Republicans 24/7, but this travesty is caused by pure newfound elitism of the faculty, board, and administrators of the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I'm not sure where they get off on that. I think their promotion from an R2 to an R1 less than a decade ago, went to their heads. It wasn't that long ago when University of Wisconsin Milwaukee was regarded as a regional university catering to commuter students and wasn't too dis-similar from their community college colleagues.

[kaysixteen]

Hmmmm... exactly how is a 17 yo supposed to ascertain whether college x, to which he might be preparing to apply/ accept an offer of admission from, is seriously close to going belly-up?   Esp if said kid is a first-gen college kid.

The college that we were talking about here in June, Eastern Nazarene, was still accepting class deposits from admitted students, two months earlier (on their website, they mention that they will be returning those deposits to said students).   It probably goes without saying that the would-be returning upperclassmen there had no idea of the problem.  Like I said, the school was still spending big bucks on campus infrastructure improvements 5 years ago when I worked for them, and the info on their www site as of yesterday acknowledges that the school's many recent presidents and board of trustees were discussing their dire financial situation for a good long time, on the hush-hush of course.

[apl68]

These failing schools are like failing businesses of any sort that try to look like they're not failing as they desperately try to attract the customers, and maybe also investors, that they need.  Like a travel agency that suddenly goes bust and leaves customers stranded all over the world.  They fear that if they're honest about just how bad their situation is, it will cause everybody to abandon them, and then that would finish them.  This sort of dishonesty isn't right, but it is understandable.  And the line at which trying to keep the business/institution's problems from becoming a public spectacle while putting the best face on things, versus shading over into outright fraud, probably isn't entirely clear-cut.  Erring on the side of transparency would seem to be ethically the best choice.

The majority of prospective students who are heading to the nearest state school, or maybe the state's flagship, shouldn't have to worry about their schools suddenly going bust.  But parents of students looking at a particular SLAC might be well-advised to do some digging into the school's financial situation.  Most parents would probably never think to do so.  Colleges have a reputation for being the most stable of institutions.  The average person doesn't think that a college they're heard of could possibly just crash and shut down.  Until it actually happens.

[dismalist]

Eastern Nazarene, a faraway school of which we know little, was accredited. It also seems to have teach-out agreements with three other religious colleges, which is required by accreditors. That's more than one can say about some other places.

This is likely an example of system working.

[Hibush]

And now, UW-Milwaukee is going to eliminate the College of General Studies and the faculty in that college.

I think it is fair to also consider that those units had a 70% drop in enrolment.

[kaysixteen]

It worked up to a point, but their stranded students will have to go to teach-out college this fall, or likely go nowhere.   This will be especially hard on rising ENC seniors.  It is further one thing for World Travel Agency to strand grandma in exotic locale, half-way through her round the world cruise, but quite something worse for Christian College to deceive children.

[lightning]

And now, UW-Milwaukee is going to eliminate the College of General Studies and the faculty in that college.

I think it is fair to also consider that those units had a 70% drop in enrolment.

Not really fair if the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee set up the College of General Studies for enrollment decline and failure--because Waukesha and Washington were never truly integrated. For example, there were two sets of general education courses, with one set at the campus located in Milwaukee and another set of similar gen ed courses at the former two-year colleges. And, each set of gen eds led to different degree outcomes.

If you were a student at this university, which set of gen eds would you pick. Of course, you would pick the set of gen eds that led directly to a bachelor's degree and had support (like advisors). You wouldn't pick the set of gen eds that led only to the two-year degree, which was walled off, unsupported locally, and left on an island to starve, via regionalization of support services and and centralization of admin.

[Mobius]

There are already technical colleges in the region (including Waukesha) that offer the same generic associate's degrees. There isn't a need to have two or more campuses offering the same programs in those counties, especially when the state technical college is more affordable for students.