And I don't necessarily mean just your local school with a couple of thousand students who have been serving the community for 50 to 100 years, Notre Dame College in Ohio is closing, no longer viable financially. It's one of many schools of that size, most seem to be small Catholic/Christian schools. But it's surprising to me that now schools like Marquette and Xavier are also facing budget problems. I wonder if Dayton, Creighton, LaSalle, Villanova, St. Johns, St. Bonaventure, etc are all facing the same problem. Both of them have announced on going budget shortfalls that are going to require cuts and other measures to ensure their health going forward. At Marquette. In a Monday announcement, officials at the private Jesuit institution said the reductions are intended to proactively keep it viable “rather than having our future decided for us by outside forces.” Marquette said it intends to begin the process by cutting $11 million from its fiscal 2026 operating budget. Marquette announces $31M in cuts over 6 years. At Xavier In late January they announced a very substantial budget shortfall projected at $16M and then in February hired McKinsey & Co to help craft a plan to address this budget shortfall. They are calling the project "Sustaining Excellence." One of the linked FAQs addresses why this is being done: Why does Xavier need to do this transformation work? "It is important to note that Xavier is not alone in this process. Higher education is an industry in disruption and Xavier is facing significant headwinds in the near future. The University's core operation has been operating in a deficit for more than four years, including a significant deficit of more than $16M deficit in FY23. For this coming year, Xavier is projected to have a larger deficit. This is a trend that cannot continue indefinitely, and the bottom line is Xavier must make changes to continue to be a thriving institution and fulfill its mission into the future." Sustaining Excellence | Xavier University
More bad news. After failing to secure an emergency loan from the state, Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama said Tuesday that it would cease operations this spring, adding to a growing list of vulnerable small colleges announcing closures. The liberal-arts college has been in financial distress for years, but was pushing for a $30 million lifeline under a program the state created specifically for troubled colleges. “This is a tragic day,” said Board Chair Rev. Keith D. Thompson, noting the impact on students, staff and members of the local Birmingham community, where already-struggling neighborhoods may soon border an empty 200-acre campus. https://www.wsj.com/us-news/educati...rn-college-is-latest-campus-to-close-02791443
This isn't a new trend, but it's become more widespread in recent years. St. Joseph College in Rennselear, IN, closed in 2017. For many years, it was the Chicago Bears' preseason training camp. Its enrollment at the time it closed was about 1,100. It reopened recently as a branch of Marian University in Indianapolis. I'm not sure of the details.
I don't mean this to sound cruel, but... this needs to happen to the bigger schools too. Ever since the Fed Govt started passing out student loans like cookies, colleges all across the country have had ZERO incentive to keep costs down and run tight ships. They've had a virtually limitless supply of money from students/families ponying up huge sums for less and less return. I'd like to see a lot of kids realize a degree in Elizabethan Literature isn't going to pay their bills, much less the $150k student loans they built up, and go with a trade.
I'm with ya on that one....one minor fly in the ointment is that the current admin seems hell bent on paying back every one of their loans for them. Not quite the incentive I'm looking for.....
BuckeyeT, have you heard of McKinsey & Co.? Is it a capitulation of the Xavier Admin to bring them in or an admission that they don't know how to fix their own problems?