<p>I have been following the thread about the record admission rates at many colleges with great interest and found myself wondering about the opposite story. Given that higher education is, among other things, a market-driven business, which universities and colleges -- if any-- are struggling or will be struggling in the next few years to stay open?</p>
<p>Oral Roberts comes to mind......</p>
<p>Lower tier state schools in states with bad economies. I mean the directional non-flagship level schools. They have no research or alumni funding to fall back on and can't raise tuition too much either..</p>
<p>Yes, that's exactly the case here. In our town there's such a college. They have been losing enrollment over the last few years, and of course state funding is woefully short. It's actually a nice school with a good faculty and a pretty campus. A couple years ago a special NYT education supplement even touted it as an "undiscovered gem." While they are not on the verge of closing or anything like that, they have had to do some severe restructuring, laying off staff, budget cutting. It's unfortunate, but hopefully better days and increased enrollment lie ahead.</p>
<p>Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL, mismanaged their endowment and lost the majority of it. Their board members ponied up some replacement funds but the endowment remains woefully small.</p>
<p>Antioch College is on the verge of closing down..</p>
<p>Myers University in Cleveland pretty much has no endowment, but quite a lot of debt.</p>
<p>is there a report that monitors this kind of info?</p>
<p>Lots of colleges are facing a crunch as the number of HS grads begins to drop in the next few years. In some areas of the country (e.g., the northeast), the drop may be quite dramatic. The Chronicle of Higher Education is actually sponsoring a workshop entitled something like "Will your college close in 2012?" next month.</p>
<p>I am not sure Antioch is an example that is representative of any identifiable trend. The school decided many years ago, in the name of progressive enlightenment, to focus on teaching - no - indoctrinating - around hard left, neo-Marxist principles - which means that they sponsored an educational experience with little or no practical value to anyone - and surprise, found that over time very few were willing to pay for it. There are "angry studies" departments within our major universities that serve the same function, but they exist to fulfill, er...diversity objectives...and for the most part only minimally detract (except when they act out, such as at Duke) from a useful educational experience.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Lower tier state schools in states with bad economies. I mean the directional non-flagship level schools. They have no research or alumni funding to fall back on and can't raise tuition too much either..
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</p>
<p>I don't believe that the economy is all that great nor is it terrible in Missouri or Illinois, but the "directional" schools seem to be doing fairly well. I don't know about all of them, but SEMO for example is growing rapidly.</p>
<p>Brand-new aquatic center opened as a part of the Rec Services in December. That's a 9-million dollar project; new indoor track and basketball courts in the Rec Center at $600,000; just opened a brand new campus, "The River Campus," for the fine arts and performing arts. The place is beautiful. They just built a new Residence Hall in 2003 and another is set to open in the fall of 2009. They also just bought an apartment complex and are currently renovating it set to open in fall of 2008.</p>
<p>SEMO is a "directional" school of roughly 10,000 with relatively low cost, but programs are growing and campus is growing:) The fact that they are able to keep the expenses at a reasonable level (even for out-of-state students) I think is a major reason why campus is growing like it is.</p>
<p>I agree about Eckerd College. My D and I visited in September and except for the new library and the admissions building, the campus was in very bad physical shape. The class my D sat in on was in a building that was literally falling apart. Chunks of concrete were missing and it was very rundown. Ironically, I discovered Eckerd's past dire fiscal situation while thumbing through an album of newspaper clippings in the admissions office, waiting for my D's interview to end!</p>
<p>I would also never have guessed "directional schools" - with the high cost of college education I would have guessed the directional schools would be coming into favor as opposed to struggling. If a "state" is in financial upheaval it would limpact all schools supported by the state, not just directionals I'm guessing? I'm also not aware that in general a directional school would have less enthusiastic alumni contributors? Has there been a study done on this? I would have guessed small private regional focused non-secular colleges before I would have guessed state directionals -</p>
<p>I think I read last year that Frostburg State in Maryland is struggling and has brought in some sort of "turn around" team to recover. I hope it works b/c that part of the state really needs access to affordable higher education. </p>
<p>BTW, what is a "directional" school?</p>
<p>What is a directional school? I have never heard the term before and googling it didn't really enlighten.</p>
<p>A school with directions (are they cardinal or ordinal - can never remember??) in its name, e.g. South East Missouri State.</p>
<p>As consumers we need to be cautious, because the financial disclosure requirements for non-profits, especially higher ed, are weak. So we may not know until it is too late. Bradford College (Bradford</a> College (Massachusetts - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia is a great example of what can happen.</p>
<p>Bradford's failure also had other lessons: They recruited agressively in their final years in a turn around effort, so aggressive recruiting is no sign of solvency. In fact, a number of students were left holding the bag.</p>
<p>So, what to watch out for?</p>
<ul>
<li> declining enrollments</li>
<li> poor maintenance of grounds and facilities</li>
<li> articles in the local paper</li>
</ul>
<p>If you see these things, try to get financials, but be prepared to read between the lines.</p>
<p>I also think state supported institutions are much lower risk, because their is too much political risk in letting a place fail. Instead, the state is more likely to merge institutions. At least then one's credits are not at risk.</p>
<p>New mass dad is correct. You need to be very careful. One reason schools desperately try to stay around past their time is that they have specialized assets that usually are not worth much. In short, they won't get much when they try to sell them off. The land may be great in a great location, but the cost of ripping buildings down (most classrooms and dorms or not useful to other kinds of entities) makes it a losing propostition. If they are taking anyone, it is not a good deal. You are better off at a community college, working hard, doing well, then trying to transfer to a good school.</p>
<p>
[quote]
A school with directions (are they cardinal or ordinal - can never remember??) in its name, e.g. South East Missouri State.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Correct. Weird lingo these people have on CC ;)</p>
<p>Just have to correct you though;) Southeast is one word in Southeast Missouri State University :)</p>
<p>Wow- that was not even my guess, way too literal. I thought directional meant schools with a one direction focus, like "DeVry" or something like that.</p>
<p>SO, does having a weathervane direction in your name mean you are a peon school? I don't recall having any of these in CA, but they do in WA, but they seem pretty good.</p>