Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[Hibush]

I don't want to leave administrators out of this either. Every few years we get a new one who proposes "engineering" as the solution, when a reputable engineering program that would be competitive with the state flagship that is twenty minutes away would cost at least $100 million to open.

It's remarkable how many people don't seem to understand that certain things are only possible in places or institutions of a certain size.  There are people in our town, which is small and far away from anything the same size or larger, who honestly seem to believe that the reason why we don't have major chain sit-down restaurants and shopping malls is because the local chamber of commerce won't allow anything new to come to town for fear of the competition.  I've been on the Chamber.  They don't have anything like that kind of clout, and in most cases they'd be thrilled to attract a substantial new business to town.  We don't have such things because we just don't have the population to support them.

In my little town, this attitude is acknowledged by claiming there is a rumor that we are going to get a Red Lobster. That mark of having arrived as a community is clearly out of reach.

Thankfully, in real life we have leapfrogged the Red-Lobster standard, and seen some rather nice farm-to-table restaurants open.

[apl68]

I don't want to leave administrators out of this either. Every few years we get a new one who proposes "engineering" as the solution, when a reputable engineering program that would be competitive with the state flagship that is twenty minutes away would cost at least $100 million to open.

It's remarkable how many people don't seem to understand that certain things are only possible in places or institutions of a certain size.  There are people in our town, which is small and far away from anything the same size or larger, who honestly seem to believe that the reason why we don't have major chain sit-down restaurants and shopping malls is because the local chamber of commerce won't allow anything new to come to town for fear of the competition.  I've been on the Chamber.  They don't have anything like that kind of clout, and in most cases they'd be thrilled to attract a substantial new business to town.  We don't have such things because we just don't have the population to support them.

In my little town, this attitude is acknowledged by claiming there is a rumor that we are going to get a Red Lobster. That mark of having arrived as a community is clearly out of reach.

Thankfully, in real life we have leapfrogged the Red-Lobster standard, and seen some rather nice farm-to-table restaurants open.

When I was an undergrad the town where Alma Mater was located got a Taco Bell.  It was the talk of the campus for weeks!  We did not have a very big college town.

[secundem_artem]

I don't want to leave administrators out of this either. Every few years we get a new one who proposes "engineering" as the solution, when a reputable engineering program that would be competitive with the state flagship that is twenty minutes away would cost at least $100 million to open.

It's remarkable how many people don't seem to understand that certain things are only possible in places or institutions of a certain size.  There are people in our town, which is small and far away from anything the same size or larger, who honestly seem to believe that the reason why we don't have major chain sit-down restaurants and shopping malls is because the local chamber of commerce won't allow anything new to come to town for fear of the competition.  I've been on the Chamber.  They don't have anything like that kind of clout, and in most cases they'd be thrilled to attract a substantial new business to town.  We don't have such things because we just don't have the population to support them.

In my little town, this attitude is acknowledged by claiming there is a rumor that we are going to get a Red Lobster. That mark of having arrived as a community is clearly out of reach.

Thankfully, in real life we have leapfrogged the Red-Lobster standard, and seen some rather nice farm-to-table restaurants open.

When I was an undergrad the town where Alma Mater was located got a Taco Bell.  It was the talk of the campus for weeks!  We did not have a very big college town.

At one point, Artem-town was apparently the largest city in the US without a Starbucks.  That concern has since been rectified, but the local independent coffee shop on the edge of campus is far superior to Starbucks anyway, so who cares.  Only place I ever go to Starbuck is in an airport where my choices are more limited.

[Hibush]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

[apl68]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

A couple of thoughts:

Those are definitely scary numbers for them!

A student body consisting largely of transfer students from junior colleges is likely to be able to offer far less of the traditional on-campus college experience.  Which reduces one of the main draws of a small four-year college.  I don't see why students starting out at a junior college would transfer anywhere other than the closest, cheapest public school, unless they felt that the public carried a stigma, or wanted to go to a private school with a desired religious affiliation.

If I hadn't heard that Super Dinky was now closed, I'd strongly suspect Clarke of being Super Dinky....

[jimbogumbo]

Wichita State has problems, but let's add this salt to the faculty wounds: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30335808/wichita-state-men-basketball-coach-gregg-marshall-resigns-investigation

[Hibush]

Wichita State has problems, but let's add this salt to the faculty wounds: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30335808/wichita-state-men-basketball-coach-gregg-marshall-resigns-investigation

Their dire finances won't be helped in that "The school and Marshall agreed to a contract settlement of $7.75 million to be paid over the next six years."

If the coach were paying that back to the school, it would be another story.

[jimbogumbo]

Wichita State has problems, but let's add this salt to the faculty wounds: https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/30335808/wichita-state-men-basketball-coach-gregg-marshall-resigns-investigation

Their dire finances won't be helped in that "The school and Marshall agreed to a contract settlement of $7.75 million to be paid over the next six years."

If the coach were paying that back to the school, it would be another story.

Yeah, that's why I posted it.

[hazelshade]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

Man, today is the day I feel I've finally earned my small-town cred, because I read this first sentence and was like, "Rural?? It's in Dubuque, for chrissakes!"

[mamselle]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

Man, today is the day I feel I've finally earned my small-town cred, because I read this first sentence and was like, "Rural?? It's in Dubuque, for chrissakes!"

And I, my "Music Man" kid's band cred...(two community player's groups did the show when I was in 7th and 8th grades, so I was in it twice...)

As soon as I saw that, I sang to myself, "Dubuque, Des Moines, Davenport, Marshaltown, Mason City, Keokuk, Ames, Clear Lake...Got to give Iowa a try!"

M.

[apl68]

Just goes to show how strongly "Iowa" and "rural" are associated in people's minds.  I've seen our own state's capital described as a "small town" before.  It's the center of a metro area with nearly three-quarters of a million people!

[Ruralguy]

Even my town is really "semi-rural" rather truly rural because of the concentrated population right in the "county seat" area. But once you get about 5 miles out of town on either side, you're basically in the cornfields, though in some directions its only another 50 miles before you hit even bigger towns and cities. Also, a large percentage of the students are from the various cities that are 1-3 hrs drive from here.

[Hibush]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

Man, today is the day I feel I've finally earned my small-town cred, because I read this first sentence and was like, "Rural?? It's in Dubuque, for chrissakes!"

Fair enough. I was piling on.

[jimbogumbo]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

Man, today is the day I feel I've finally earned my small-town cred, because I read this first sentence and was like, "Rural?? It's in Dubuque, for chrissakes!"

Fair enough. I was piling on.

It is big for where I grew up. But, the population is under 60,000. That's not big even by my standards.

[Vkw10]

Iowa's small private rural Clarke has seen enrollment decline from 949 to 659 in six years. Those numbers really ring the dire-straits bell.

They just announced a vastly expanded transfer program from CCs. As ambitious as the program sounds, the hope is that it will increase the number of junior transfers from 100 to 160 per year.

That is a small increase, but my guesstimate on the demographics is that the majority of alumni will be transfers.

Man, today is the day I feel I've finally earned my small-town cred, because I read this first sentence and was like, "Rural?? It's in Dubuque, for chrissakes!"

Fair enough. I was piling on.

It is big for where I grew up. But, the population is under 60,000. That's not big even by my standards.

60,000? That's only rural if it includes cows, squirrels, and rabbits. Of course, I grew up in a one stoplight town with cows and cornfields inside the town limits. We might have gotten to 60,000 by counting insects, arachnids, avians, and mammals. Maybe.