Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[emera gratia]

Ohio University cutting programs and people, including tenure-track professors: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/bobcats-stand-together-to-save-our-profs?fbclid=IwAR2e-65Ukds-aAeC1zW0IoXRGICAUqG1HWjqWbm-0esKI1N81j43PfjrqgY

[apl68]

S&P Slashes 127 Colleges from IHE.

The list, if you want the names: https://www.spglobal.com/ratings/en/research/articles/200430-outlooks-revised-on-certain-u-s-not-for-profit-higher-education-institutions-due-to-covid-19-impact-11469520

Gulp.

Only one institution on the list that's in our state, and it's not my alma mater.  But I was startled to see who it was.  I would have thought that that school was in better shape than that.

[spork]

Ohio University cutting programs and people, including tenure-track professors: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/bobcats-stand-together-to-save-our-profs?fbclid=IwAR2e-65Ukds-aAeC1zW0IoXRGICAUqG1HWjqWbm-0esKI1N81j43PfjrqgY

Probationary faculty and adjuncts receiving notices of non-renewal. Interesting.

[dismalist]

Well, the Ohio petition also states:

Responsible fiscal governance at a public university demands that cuts to balance the budget must first come from non-academic units.

Maybe. But clearly, God bless me and to hell with you.

[Wahoo Redux]

Ohio University cutting programs and people, including tenure-track professors: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/bobcats-stand-together-to-save-our-profs?fbclid=IwAR2e-65Ukds-aAeC1zW0IoXRGICAUqG1HWjqWbm-0esKI1N81j43PfjrqgY

Probationary faculty and adjuncts receiving notices of non-renewal. Interesting.

Sign the petition.  Post to Facebook and/or Twitter. 

[spork]

Why should I bother doing something that will have zero effect? I don't believe in virtue signaling. Undergraduate FTE enrollment at OU increased by 22% between FY 2006 and FY 2018. Graduate FTE increased by 65% during the same period. Since it seems that OU can't pay its bills despite the increased tuition revenue, that leads me to conclude that this is a state financing problem, to be solved one way or the other by Ohio taxpayers and legislators. So far at least the people of Ohio appear to place more value on the OU men's basketball and football programs than on post-secondary education. Not my place to try to interfere with that decision.

[Hibush]

S&P Slashes 127 Colleges from IHE.

The numbers on colleges not in dire financial straits: "At the end of last year, only 3.2 percent of S&P-rated colleges and universities had been assigned positive outlooks. All of those have now been revised to stable".

[Parasaurolophus]

S&P Slashes 127 Colleges from IHE.

The numbers on colleges not in dire financial straits: "At the end of last year, only 3.2 percent of S&P-rated colleges and universities had been assigned positive outlooks. All of those have now been revised to stable".

Wow.

[TreadingLife]

S&P Slashes 127 Colleges from IHE.

The numbers on colleges not in dire financial straits: "At the end of last year, only 3.2 percent of S&P-rated colleges and universities had been assigned positive outlooks. All of those have now been revised to stable".

Not to deny that the colleges on the S&P lists don't have their work cut out for them, but to my understanding, the rating has to do with their bond ratings and their ability to take on more debt given their finances and their projected economic climate. There was quite a variety of bond ratings among the listed schools. Some, like Providence College, have an A bond rating, despite a negative outlook, while others have a bond rating of BBB-, with the same negative outlook.  Aside from the schools with a billion dollar endowment, isn't everyone else facing a negative outlook for the next few years, regardless of their bond rating? Shouldn't you be a bit more concerned if your school is negative and in the BBB range vs A range? Also, doesn't the rating correlate with the ability to borrow money at an adjusted interest rate depending on your perceived riskiness? How much should someone (employees or prospective students) read into a list like that?

I feel like some on here might have some insight on known markers of "the writing on the wall" as it relates to S&P ratings and other factors.

I was also shocked to see that Sweet Briar formerly had a positive outlook, along with a BB- rating. Good for them, I guess. I haven't seen them in the news or on this thread recently, so I guess that's a positive.

[polly_mer]

I was also shocked to see that Sweet Briar formerly had a positive outlook, along with a BB- rating. Good for them, I guess. I haven't seen them in the news or on this thread recently, so I guess that's a positive.

It's not a positive to drop out of sight and discussion.  We don't talk about Sweet Briar any more because they didn't really recover; they just didn't close immediately upon the first announcement.

If they were doing an Antioch-type recovery, then we'd be hearing about it everywhere that colleges in dire financial straits are being discussed.

[spork]

I was also shocked to see that Sweet Briar formerly had a positive outlook, along with a BB- rating. Good for them, I guess. I haven't seen them in the news or on this thread recently, so I guess that's a positive.

It's not a positive to drop out of sight and discussion.  We don't talk about Sweet Briar any more because they didn't really recover; they just didn't close immediately upon the first announcement.

If they were doing an Antioch-type recovery, then we'd be hearing about it everywhere that colleges in dire financial straits are being discussed.

Sweet Briar's most recent IRS Form 990 (FY 2018) shows a net loss of $1.4 million on $36.7 million in expenses, a -3.8% margin. Healthy institutions have a +3.8% margin.

[Caracal]

S&P Slashes 127 Colleges from IHE.

The numbers on colleges not in dire financial straits: "At the end of last year, only 3.2 percent of S&P-rated colleges and universities had been assigned positive outlooks. All of those have now been revised to stable".

Not to deny that the colleges on the S&P lists don't have their work cut out for them, but to my understanding, the rating has to do with their bond ratings and their ability to take on more debt given their finances and their projected economic climate. There was quite a variety of bond ratings among the listed schools. Some, like Providence College, have an A bond rating, despite a negative outlook, while others have a bond rating of BBB-, with the same negative outlook.  Aside from the schools with a billion dollar endowment, isn't everyone else facing a negative outlook for the next few years, regardless of their bond rating? Shouldn't you be a bit more concerned if your school is negative and in the BBB range vs A range? Also, doesn't the rating correlate with the ability to borrow money at an adjusted interest rate depending on your perceived riskiness? How much should someone (employees or prospective students) read into a list like that?

I feel like some on here might have some insight on known markers of "the writing on the wall" as it relates to S&P ratings and other factors.

Yeah, that's important context. For private schools, unsurprisingly, it seems to show that the places at most risk were not doing great in the first place. Most of them have ratings in the Bs, only a couple of downward revisions from A-s and only one from anywhere higher than that.

The public schools being downgraded tend to have higher ratings. (perhaps because there are fewer public schools with ratings below A in the first place?) Downgrades seem heavily concentrated in areas with static or declining populations. Also HBCUs.

[Parasaurolophus]

Auckland is asking some of its lecturers to teach for free.

[Wahoo Redux]

Auckland is asking some of its lecturers to teach for free.

Polly should like this one.

Exploitation much?

I might consider it if my dean, provost, and president also worked the semester for free.

[sprout]

Auckland is asking some of its lecturers to teach for free.

I might consider it if my dean, provost, and president also worked the semester for free.

That is the only condition under which I might conceivably consider for a moment agreeing.  That is *bleeping* ballsy.  Somebody needs to tell them that, in fact, it can hurt to ask.