Colleges in Dire Financial Straits

[polly_mer]

But Cost of Living is low, presumably with USA = 100:

Bethany cost of living is 77.4
           Bethany   West Virginia
Overall   77.4          78.1
Grocery   97.1           95.8
Health   97.5          106
Housing   47.4          41.7

Hell, housing is free!

That's the wrong Bethany College.  The Bethany College under discussion is in Kansas.

However, I wouldn't be betting on either Bethany College being around in twenty years if I were in the market for a new faculty position.

...

Same sort of price structure in Topeka, a two hour drive from Bethany. Housing is less than half the mean US price.

It is absolutely true, however, that dying places have cheap housing.

West Virginia, Kansas, whatever. :-)

I know people at both Bethanys who do love their low cost of living in small towns where raising kids is nice.  I worry about what happens to those folks when "unexpectedly" they will lose their jobs and nice enough lives.

[polly_mer]

I read through a good chunk of the thread this weekend, and most of the discussion centered on LACs. How do the regional comprehensives cope with systemic enrollment declines that predated the pandemic?

At the moment, many of the regional comprehensives are ignoring the issue as a temporary blip because believing the data is too disturbing.  We have several forumites who refuse to accept that reality.

However, some state systems are already looking at mergers and closings based on the demographic shifts.  Pennsylvania, Vermont, Alaska, and Wisconsin immediately come to mind as places where the plans were announced and faculty went to the media in an effort to get fiscally responsible plans stopped because the faculty don't want to lose their jobs.  If the faculty win the immediate battle, then the crash in a few years will be that much worse for everyone involved.

[Golazo]

My regional, which has mostly LAC-sized classes, will be a big winner if some of the pricey LACs that have the same completion rate we have for 2-4X the cost close. We are fortunate in that we are in a growing region and we are about the cheapest game around (this was part of my calculation when I took the job). If we recruit competently and don't do silly things, we'll be ok. I'm glad I'm not in PA. The outlook is not equally bad everywhere.

[Ruralguy]

I'm near a state regional school and they seem to be doing fine. In fact, I don't think I've heard much of anything about any of the state branches closing or merging. Rather not say the state (though I think over time some of you have figured out more or less where I am), but its not really same region as any of the states mentioned.

[jimbogumbo]

Update on U of Evansville: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/02/09/u-evansville-scraps-plan-cut-music-department

[apl68]

Update on U of Evansville: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/02/09/u-evansville-scraps-plan-cut-music-department

This is odd.  Since they're a Methodist school, it would make sense for them to retain a good commitment to music.  That's a common area of emphasis in denominationally-affiliated schools.  But Philosophy and Religion is still apparently on its way out?  And electrical engineering and computer science?

The article mentions "new revenue streams and increasing fundraising."  Wonder what they mean by that?  Do they think they have some major donors lined up to help?

[marshwiggle]

Update on U of Evansville: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/02/09/u-evansville-scraps-plan-cut-music-department

This is odd.  Since they're a Methodist school, it would make sense for them to retain a good commitment to music.  That's a common area of emphasis in denominationally-affiliated schools.  But Philosophy and Religion is still apparently on its way out?  And electrical engineering and computer science?

The article mentions "new revenue streams and increasing fundraising."  Wonder what they mean by that?  Do they think they have some major donors lined up to help?

I was assuming this was what they meant:

The university is also planning to launch a music conservatory to teach private lessons and a music therapy clinic. Evansville's Wheeler Concert Hall will also be renovated, costing about $3 million.

So the private lessons, music therapy, and potential rental of the concert space(?) are the "new revenue streams". However, unless faculty actually are involved in those other things, then there's nothing unique about the institution doing them. And nothing that makes them competitive with private companies offering the same services.

[apl68]

Update on U of Evansville: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2021/02/09/u-evansville-scraps-plan-cut-music-department

This is odd.  Since they're a Methodist school, it would make sense for them to retain a good commitment to music.  That's a common area of emphasis in denominationally-affiliated schools.  But Philosophy and Religion is still apparently on its way out?  And electrical engineering and computer science?

The article mentions "new revenue streams and increasing fundraising."  Wonder what they mean by that?  Do they think they have some major donors lined up to help?

I was assuming this was what they meant:

The university is also planning to launch a music conservatory to teach private lessons and a music therapy clinic. Evansville's Wheeler Concert Hall will also be renovated, costing about $3 million.

So the private lessons, music therapy, and potential rental of the concert space(?) are the "new revenue streams". However, unless faculty actually are involved in those other things, then there's nothing unique about the institution doing them. And nothing that makes them competitive with private companies offering the same services.

That's the thing--where are they getting the $3 million from?  I hope for their sake that they aren't doing this with borrowed money on spec, in the hopes that it will pay for itself.  On the other hand, if a big alumni donor chose to put this kind of money into the program, that could go a long way toward encouraging them to save it.

[Parasaurolophus]

That's the thing--where are they getting the $3 million from?  I hope for their sake that they aren't doing this with borrowed money on spec, in the hopes that it will pay for itself.  On the other hand, if a big alumni donor chose to put this kind of money into the program, that could go a long way toward encouraging them to save it.

Yeah... $3mil for infrastructure for a program which was on the chop seems crazy.

[marshwiggle]

That's the thing--where are they getting the $3 million from?  I hope for their sake that they aren't doing this with borrowed money on spec, in the hopes that it will pay for itself.  On the other hand, if a big alumni donor chose to put this kind of money into the program, that could go a long way toward encouraging them to save it.

Yeah... $3mil for infrastructure for a program which was on the chop seems crazy.

Does Evansville have another concert space? If not, they could be getting some support from the city. (If they're trying to compete with something that's already available, then that's not a good sign.....)

[mamselle]

From growing up in Col's, OH, just east of them, I seem to remember them having a very strong music program in the 70s and 80s at least.

Some of the Methodist schools do indeed maintain strong music programs, but some of those (like BU) have also lost some, but not all, of their Methodist identity along the way to the 21st c...the Hymn Society was housed at BU, for example, with an expert on Wesley's theological statements in hymnody as Exec. Dir., and an excellent Masters of Sacred Music program administered by the theology department in conjunction with the School for the Arts.   

The Big Ten midwestern state schools were all once reliable sources of a good music education, so the field was competitive in that region, (if for nothing other than making sure brass players could all march at 120 beats per minute...but it was more than that: the Cleveland Symphony was just up the road, for example...and I was in a high school AP music theory class at Capital U. with Paul O'Dette...just for some fun name-dropping...)

Maybe some illustrious alumnae/i have ponied up? The Methodist Church isn't rolling in money, but perhaps they did decide to support the program...

It is curious...if welcome. We need more, not fewer, good musicians, and many come from unexpected (i.e., non-urban) backgrounds.

M.

[polly_mer]

We need more, not fewer, good musicians, and many come from unexpected (i.e., non-urban) backgrounds.

Is a college education in music really the pathway to additional good musicians?

Is renovating a performance center in the hopes of making revenue for the institution the best way to spend $3M to support aspiring musicians in the community?

I am reminded of the person who did her formal education in the creative side and was then surprised that her non-profit to support creatives failed: https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/12/from-graduate-student-to-amazon-warehouse-janitor.html .  Had the person spent her formal education in non-profit management with internships and done an MPA and taken workshops for her creative work, then she probably would have made a better go at realizing her stated dream of running a non-profit that supports artists.

[wareagle]

Is a college education in music really the pathway to additional good musicians?

Is renovating a performance center in the hopes of making revenue for the institution the best way to spend $3M to support aspiring musicians in the community?

If we replace "additional good musicians" with "additional good football players", and "performance center" with "athletic field", no one would even raise an eyebrow.

[marshwiggle]

We need more, not fewer, good musicians, and many come from unexpected (i.e., non-urban) backgrounds.

Is a college education in music really the pathway to additional good musicians?

Is renovating a performance center in the hopes of making revenue for the institution the best way to spend $3M to support aspiring musicians in the community?

I am reminded of the person who did her formal education in the creative side and was then surprised that her non-profit to support creatives failed: https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/12/from-graduate-student-to-amazon-warehouse-janitor.html .  Had the person spent her formal education in non-profit management with internships and done an MPA and taken workshops for her creative work, then she probably would have made a better go at realizing her stated dream of running a non-profit that supports artists.

Reading the article, I don't have a clue what the business model was, (i.e. where the money was supposed to come from), for her enterprise. ("Non-profit" is fine; "non-income" isn't.)

[jimbogumbo]

Not dire, but certainly not good: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2021/02/09/ucla-athletics-financial-straits-21-7-deficit-2020/4449561001/