Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[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.

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.

Oh, I'm not arguing that it is rural. It is a river town. I'm just saying it's not large. Where I live now it is still largely an agricultural county by area, but has over 300,000 people. Both Iowa and my state (further east) are considered rural states by many people, and are certainly agricultural. Dubuque just isn't big.

[apl68]

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.

Our region's nearest four-year college is in a town of under 10,000 that is over 40 miles from anything bigger.  Alma Mater is in a town only slightly bigger that's over 20 miles from anything larger.  That's what I think of when I think "rural college."

[Hibush]

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.

Our region's nearest four-year college is in a town of under 10,000 that is over 40 miles from anything bigger.  Alma Mater is in a town only slightly bigger that's over 20 miles from anything larger.  That's what I think of when I think "rural college."

My measure is a bit different. To pick on Pennsylvania again, where the rural colleges are struggling due to depoplulation, I would include any college not in the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh metro areas. There is one very large (bigger than Dubuque ;-) rural college that is doing ok outside of those cities, but it is definitely a rural college.

[apl68]

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.

Our region's nearest four-year college is in a town of under 10,000 that is over 40 miles from anything bigger.  Alma Mater is in a town only slightly bigger that's over 20 miles from anything larger.  That's what I think of when I think "rural college."

My measure is a bit different. To pick on Pennsylvania again, where the rural colleges are struggling due to depoplulation, I would include any college not in the Philadelphia or Pittsburgh metro areas. There is one very large (bigger than Dubuque ;-) rural college that is doing ok outside of those cities, but it is definitely a rural college.

I see what you're getting at.  "College in a rural region," even if it's not exactly a small town.  That's fair enough.

[FishProf]

Is that the area referred to as Pennsatucky?

[jimbogumbo]

Is that the area referred to as Pennsatucky?

A character in Orange is the New Black!

[FishProf]

Wasn't in the book.  Missed that one.

Apparently, its PennSYLtucky.  According Wikipedia anyway.

[Hibush]

Wasn't in the book.  Missed that one.

Apparently, its PennSYLtucky.  According Wikipedia anyway.

The other spelling is phonetic, so no problem.

The boundaries of Pennsyltucky seem to be ill defined. "Not here, but a little southwest of here" may be the location for people in much of PA and a fair part of NY.

Perhaps forumites closer to the border can weigh in?

Regardless of which boundary one uses, Pennsyltucky is rich in colleges in dire financial straits.

[apl68]

Wasn't in the book.  Missed that one.

Apparently, its PennSYLtucky.  According Wikipedia anyway.

The other spelling is phonetic, so no problem.

The boundaries of Pennsyltucky seem to be ill defined. "Not here, but a little southwest of here" may be the location for people in much of PA and a fair part of NY.

Perhaps forumites closer to the border can weigh in?

Sorry, I just used to live on the south side of Kentucky.  "Tenntucky" anyone?

[spork]

Details on cuts at Guilford College:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/23/rare-no-confidence-vote-highlights-division-over-cuts-guilford-college.

[polly_mer]

Details on cuts at Guilford College:

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/23/rare-no-confidence-vote-highlights-division-over-cuts-guilford-college.

Per College Scorecard (https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?198613-Guilford-College),

* 50% completion rate at 8 years

* 10 largest graduating majors do include English, biology, and history as liberal arts

* 64% acceptance rate (more selective than expected for a 50% completion rate)

* $24k net average cost per year with typical debt at $25k and typical income $17.5k to $49.4k.  That seems pricey for a low completion school that leads to lower earning graduates.


Guilford is possibly the first college in a long time on this thread that is Carnegie listed as liberal arts focused where people could be angry about a mission shift imposed and have some evidence to back it up.

"I came here because I wanted a liberal arts education," Foulke said. "Now our school can barely be called a liberal arts college."

Foulke's major, community and justice studies, is marked for elimination. The college will offer substitute courses for students to complete remaining major requirements, and students will be able to take classes through the Greater Greensboro consortium of local colleges and universities, which includes Bennett College, Elon University, Greensboro College, Guilford Technical Community College, High Point University, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/11/23/rare-no-confidence-vote-highlights-division-over-cuts-guilford-college

If all those other places are truly reasonable drives to expect students to take the remaining courses, then it's unclear why anyone should choose Guilford over cheaper publics or better privates.

[spork]

I used to live in that area. All of those schools listed as alternatives to Guilford are within a 30-minute radius.

[polly_mer]

I used to live in that area. All of those schools listed as alternatives to Guilford are within a 30-minute radius.

Ah.  I see Guilford's problem, then.  Voting no confidence in an interim president isn't going to fix the underlying issues of too many seats chasing too few students in the region.

[spork]

I used to live in that area. All of those schools listed as alternatives to Guilford are within a 30-minute radius.

Ah.  I see Guilford's problem, then.  Voting no confidence in an interim president isn't going to fix the underlying issues of too many seats chasing too few students in the region.

Guilford's leaders were also asleep at the switch for the last thirty to forty years. Guilford never developed a strong brand like Grinnell or Davidson, nor did it expand enrollment to go big like its nearby competitor Elon. It remained a very small college with very limited resources as demand shifted. 

[apl68]

Guilford is very similar in size to Alma Mater, or was until they started losing enrollment, and according to College Scorecard has an identical acceptance rate.  However, Alma Mater's graduation and retention rates are way better.  Alma Mater also costs about $5,000 a year less to attend.  And has only one competitor--a state school--within half an hour's drive.  And still has a distinct "brand" identity.

It looks like part of Guilford's problem is not only that they've been getting fewer students, they've been having trouble holding onto them.