Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[spork]

Not just a school, but students in dire financial straits--Arkansas Baptist College is one of ten schools nationally being threatened with loss of eligibility to disburse federal financial aid because they've had more than 30% of students default on student loans for three years in a row.

https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2020/oct/01/defaults-leave-college-facing-an-aid-lockout/


Can't recall whether ABC has appeared on either version of this thread before.  They're an HCBU that has had repeated financial and accreditation issues in recent years.  And of course the COVID year isn't doing them any favors.  Size-wise, they're in the Super Dinky league.

It has a 12% graduation rate. Your tax dollars hard at work subsidizing a church.

Honestly, I haven't gotten the impression that the affiliated church has a better reputation than the school does.

I'm guessing it's basically an ATM for school/church trustees, funding boats, vacations, second homes.

[mamselle]

They're accredited by the (Higher Learning Commission) HLC:

   https://www.arkansasbaptist.edu/accreditation/

But they were in trouble with the ATS (Association of Theological Schools) in 2016; that notation against their accreditation was removed in June of 2018:

   https://www.ats.edu/uploads/accrediting/documents/2018-06-board-of-commissioners-report-abstracted.pdf

That's the most recent report on the ATS site I can find.

M.

[polly_mer]

They're accredited by the (Higher Learning Commission) HLC:

   https://www.arkansasbaptist.edu/accreditation

1) Arkansas Baptist is currently on probation with the HLC for failing to meet 5A related to resources (https://www.hlcommission.org/component/directory/?Itemid=&Action=ShowBasic&instid=1917) and that's an improvement from the show-cause notice in 2016.  ABC was on the hook for an on-site visit September 2020 for their probation.

2) It's weird that ABC's accreditation webpage doesn't look something like https://www.lltc.edu/about-us/accreditation/ since ABC is on probation with the HLC.

[spork]

Adrian College in the news again:

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/college/2020/10/03/adrian-college-football-game-covid-19-michigan/3611730001/.

Forty-eight sports teams for an enrollment of fewer than 2,000 students.

[mamselle]

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

[spork]

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

I doubt IWU has been a "bastion for liberal arts" for the last several decades. Perhaps for a century.

[marshwiggle]

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

I doubt IWU has been a "bastion for liberal arts" for the last several decades. Perhaps for a century.

"People sometimes disregard or dismiss terms like humanities and liberal arts. They don't understand what that does to their careers," Sheridan said, explaining that skills such as critical thinking and communication are marketable.

It's really hard to sympathize with people convinced that the general skills that their disciplines claim to develop are completely lacking in other disciplines that also provide very valuable definable skills.

[polly_mer]

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

I doubt IWU has been a "bastion for liberal arts" for the last several decades. Perhaps for a century.

"We have an educational model in the United States that sometimes privileges the professional degree tracks."  Do other people not know that practically the entire world runs on higher education models that don't privilege the liberal arts?  The reason university is important for an increasing fraction of the adult population to attend is exactly the professional degree tracks like nursing, k-12 teaching, engineering, and social work.

It's a weird historical holdover in the US to be so focused on general education at the university level at the expense of specializing beyond secondary school.

[hazelshade]

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

I doubt IWU has been a "bastion for liberal arts" for the last several decades. Perhaps for a century.

This seems snide and unfounded (and doesn't track with my experience with IWU). What are you basing this on?

[marshwiggle]

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

I doubt IWU has been a "bastion for liberal arts" for the last several decades. Perhaps for a century.

"We have an educational model in the United States that sometimes privileges the professional degree tracks."  Do other people not know that practically the entire world runs on higher education models that don't privilege the liberal arts? 

Yeah, I got a kick out of the irony of that as well.

[dismalist]

Small places apart, this is also an intertemporal problem.

And, indeed, some 50 graduate programs are pausing

https://www.chronicle.com/article/more-doctoral-programs-suspend-admissions-that-could-have-lasting-effects-on-graduate-education

Could help solve a lot  of perceived iniquities among current academics, including the adjunct/tenured faculty ratio, low wages for certain disciplines, and so on.

Of course, some costs fall on the current generation of potential entrants.

[spork]

Sacred Heart pulls out of merger plan with U. Bridgeport:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/10/06/sacred-heart-university-withdraws-university-bridgeport-acquisition-dropping-deal

Also Illinois Wesleyan (don't think i've seen this posted yet, apologies if it's a duplicate):

   https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-illinois-wesleyan-university-liberal-arts-cuts-20201005-sb3disywfvb43mpg6bjoiweyfi-story.html

M.

I doubt IWU has been a "bastion for liberal arts" for the last several decades. Perhaps for a century.

This seems snide and unfounded (and doesn't track with my experience with IWU). What are you basing this on?

A simple check of IPEDS completion data; out of 389 graduates in FY 2019:

• 113, or 29%, were in business.
• Another 76 were in allied health (a.k.a. nursing), computer science, education, or natural resources/conservation.
• 5 in history.
• 7 in math.
• 6 in foreign languages.
• 17 in English.
• 2 in philosophy.

So nearly 50% graduated with occupational training degrees. The only "liberal arts" field with a significant number of graduates is biology, with 45. The university has had a nursing program since 1923. I don't know when "business" majors started.

In FY 2019 it had negative net revenue of $7.5 million on total expenses of $75.6 million. In other words, a 10% budget deficit. Similar to the year before. Its FTE enrollment has collapsed by at least 20% since the 2008 recession. Either IWU focuses on what brings students through the doors or it goes bankrupt.

[spork]

Doane University:

https://www.1011now.com/2020/10/05/doane-university-president-announces-recommendation-to-cut-numerous-programs/.

[marshwiggle]

Small places apart, this is also an intertemporal problem.

And, indeed, some 50 graduate programs are pausing

https://www.chronicle.com/article/more-doctoral-programs-suspend-admissions-that-could-have-lasting-effects-on-graduate-education

Could help solve a lot  of perceived iniquities among current academics, including the adjunct/tenured faculty ratio, low wages for certain disciplines, and so on.

Of course, some costs fall on the current generation of potential entrants.

If this keeps out a bunch of people who would have paid out=of=pocket, it's actually saving money for those.

[picard]

Small places apart, this is also an intertemporal problem.

And, indeed, some 50 graduate programs are pausing

https://www.chronicle.com/article/more-doctoral-programs-suspend-admissions-that-could-have-lasting-effects-on-graduate-education

Could help solve a lot  of perceived iniquities among current academics, including the adjunct/tenured faculty ratio, low wages for certain disciplines, and so on.

Of course, some costs fall on the current generation of potential entrants.

If this keeps out a bunch of people who would have paid out=of=pocket, it's actually saving money for those.

Agreed. Plus given how dire the job market for all disciplines this year, it's probably a good idea to pause new intakes into grad programs for a year or two so new PhDs on the market now can get a decent job.