Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[spork]

St. Augustine College in Chicago is no more. It is merging with Lewis University. St. Augustine has been running deficits since 2013 and its liabilities exceed its assets; i.e., it went bankrupt. Its enrollment fell by more than 50 percent over the same period.

Interestingly SAC was started in 1980, so it lost money for at least 25 percent of the time it existed.

[apl68]

That was a startlingly recent date for foundation of a college.  A quick check finds that St. Augustine was founded specifically to serve a bilingual (Spanish-English) student population.  Which sounds like a worthwhile niche, given the nation's huge bilingual population.  Evidently it wasn't a sufficiently lucrative niche.

[selecter]

St. Augustine is (was) in my old hood, near my own Super Dinky, which was an HSA. So, we had some overlap. St. Augustine, even in its neighborhood, had virtually zero footprint.

[Hibush]

That was a startlingly recent date for foundation of a college.  A quick check finds that St. Augustine was founded specifically to serve a bilingual (Spanish-English) student population.  Which sounds like a worthwhile niche, given the nation's huge bilingual population.  Evidently it wasn't a sufficiently lucrative niche.

We see institutions take on the laudable mission of educating a population that cannot pay the tuition. Those institutions need to have an independent source of the same amount of revenue, but that source is rarely forthcoming. The community colleges are the best place at the moment, if the community they support is prepared to provide that funding.

[apl68]

Can't link to it due to a paywall, but there was a report this morning that the University of Arkansas has approved a new Italian language major.  Apparently there's a real demand for that one.  While it doesn't exactly replace the cancelled French major at UALR discussed above, it does indicate that the study of European languages at American colleges may not be as doomed as we'd thought.

[Antiphon1]

Can't link to it due to a paywall, but there was a report this morning that the University of Arkansas has approved a new Italian language major.  Apparently there's a real demand for that one.  While it doesn't exactly replace the cancelled French major at UALR discussed above, it does indicate that the study of European languages at American colleges may not be as doomed as we'd thought.

The board also voted against buying the University of Phoenix last week.  I don't know what these actions mean, but I am heartened.  Perhaps we are refocusing our resources on nurturing existing programs rather than chasing the next new thing.  Maybe we don't need to ride the elephant every time the circus comes to town.

[Hibush]

The board also voted against buying the University of Phoenix last week.  I don't know what these actions mean, but I am heartened.  Perhaps we are refocusing our resources on nurturing existing programs rather than chasing the next new thing.  Maybe we don't need to ride the elephant every time the circus comes to town.

I like the image of the trustees of some school on the back of the escaped elephant that is the University of Phoenix. Not fiscally prudent. Headed straight for the straits.

[rth253]

Massive budget cuts and faculty cuts proposed in the Connecticut State College and University system (which doesn't include UConn). Enrollment has dropped 36% since 2019.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2023/05/01/connecticut-state-system-warns-devastating-cuts?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b5e38db462-DNU_2021_COPY_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b5e38db462-237076253&mc_cid=b5e38db462&mc_eid=978db0a71d

[spork]

Massive budget cuts and faculty cuts proposed in the Connecticut State College and University system (which doesn't include UConn). Enrollment has dropped 36% since 2019.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2023/05/01/connecticut-state-system-warns-devastating-cuts?utm_source=Inside+Higher+Ed&utm_campaign=b5e38db462-DNU_2021_COPY_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_1fcbc04421-b5e38db462-237076253&mc_cid=b5e38db462&mc_eid=978db0a71d

This has been long in the making:

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/connecticut-tax-inequality-cities/532623/

[mythbuster]

This is one where I miss Prytania. She would have had lots to say about the situation.

[Hibush]

Tulane (enrollment 14,000) is buying a giant hospital that has stood vacant since it was damaged by hurricane Katrina 18 years ago. They will invest $135 million in fixing it up. Desperation move or wise investment in the future?

[Hibush]

As we maintain our cottage here at The Fora, this perspective may be relevant.

The question of how many small colleges will close has become something of a cottage industry over the past decade, and the intensity and frequency of these predictions only increased during the pandemic. But as Chronicle reporter Lee Gardner recently pointed out, a catastrophic die-off of small colleges has been predicted for well over a decade, and has not come to pass.

[apl68]

I wonder how many have gone out of business so far?  And how many show clear signs of being in existential trouble?  The number is surely not small.  Though surely not close to the figures we've seen suggesting that something like a fifth/quarter/third/half are on their way out.

[kaysixteen]

What is the likelihood that many of these finacially flailing private schools will be absorbed by their states and made into publics?

[Hibush]

What is the likelihood that many of these finacially flailing private schools will be absorbed by their states and made into publics?

My initial guess is zero. What would the conditions be that make that attractive? A lot of the publics have excess infrastructure at the moment, so it would have to be one that is expanding in the same area. It would also be in a state that values public education a lot. Is there a flailing private campus near Fayetteville that could be a candidate?