Would a deliberate move to decrease enrollment (at a tuition dependent college) be a financial concern?
Can a school get too big? The costs of this year’s over-enrollment at Virginia Tech are mentioned here too.
Reduction of longer term target enrollment by 200 (as in the GWU example) suggests that the college feels that it is having difficulty finding the “last 200” of the students without either (a) significantly lowering admission standards and hurting its rankings, and/or (b) giving so much more financial aid and scholarships that the additional revenue does not make up for the marginal cost of enrolling them, and/or (c) it is right on the edge where accommodating the “last 200” students comfortably means significant added expenses (e.g. new buildings) rather than just using existing capacity to the maximum.
The VT example is not really the same, as it is an overyield compared to its target enrollment, not that it changed its target enrollment.
Yes VT is just an example of how too many students can cost more than they bring in - in that case, when unexpectedly high yield occurs.
I agree it’s a different situation than deciding to forevermore enroll fewer students.
Would you be concerned with a highly regarded rural school that had historically attracted a geographically diverse (less than 10% in state) student body that most recently has a 25% in state enrollment?
What about having approximately 20% of the school drawn internationally with 95% of these students getting financial aid of $40,000. Is that typical that such a high percentage of international students get aid and in such large numbers?
Thanks
@Nocreativity1
International students are often considered a way to gain tuition dollars as most of those accepted seem to be full pay at many schools, especially the less selective schools. So while I would not be concerned, I’d be surprised. Perhaps that school has a particular mission to educate deserving but poor students from all over the world? Is there a specific scholarship fund for that, perhaps? Hard to say that alone is a sign of anything bad financially.
As for national vs in-state students, 75% out of state is still definitely a national draw. Harvard’s New England students make up 17% of the admitted class and it can pick whoever it wants, pretty much.
^^If you really want to get into the weeds, take a look at the overall discount rate - tuition income/(total studentsXsticker price). has it changed drastically over the past few years? If not, then don’t worry about it.
Sometimes it is worth the risk. UC-Irvine started a law school and gave free tuition to the initial class. Those students were taking a risk that the school would become accredited (which would be retroactive to include them) Good deal, but a risk. Kaiser is starting a med school in California. Same deal, free tuition but a risk to those future doctors that the school might not be seen as that great in the future.
So why go to a school that might be in some financial trouble? Might be a good financial offer, might become a top ranked school (or is a top ranked school now) and you get it at a bargain price, the school might be just what you wanted and there isn’t another school like it (Hampshire). Several reasons make sense to me.
The college I know of that went under this year is not on the 2017 Forbes list of colleges in trouble. So don’t count on such lists.
“only schools with AAA (sic) ratings from Moodys (sic),” (assuming you mean Aaa and Moody’s) or “Aa3”, which is still High Investment Grade is very different than avoiding schools with a B1 or lower.
From a WaPo analysis of Moody’s data, over 78% of schools have minimal to low risk (upper medium grade or higher) and only 3.5% were non-investment grade. “Where are people supposed to send their kids?” - I suspect most people can find a quality education in the 96.5% of US schools with investment-grade ratings.
There is certainly a threshold below which a school would come off of any length list I would put together. The school my D chose happens to be Aaa-rated, but that had zero affect on the choice, other than being out of the 'disqualification range" (which included no schools in which she was interested).
Most people who send their kids to college send them to public universities. Looks like all states with credit ratings are investment grade, but Illinois is at the bottom edge of investment grade, with a downward trend over the last few years.
https://ballotpedia.org/State_credit_ratings
However, states may also make political decisions with respect to public university funding versus other state budget priorities that may not correlate to the credit ratings.
Um, okay. AAA is a grade used by Standard and Poor (S&P). Thank you. I think. 
Financial stability is–and should be-- a very important consideration in school selection.
Financial stability is a complex question. For example, there are schools in the news for their “financial practices” because they spend or give away more money (financial aid) than they take in. HOWEVER… they have HUGE endowments. While other schools which may have high tuition rates but almost no endowment do not get the same “financial” questioning.
Check the schools’ aid policies; check the schools’ endowments; check out the schools’ programs, support policies, and overall environment.
If the school has a healthy endowment and offers your programming, and their spending aligns with your own values… then… you should apply to that school!
Let’s don’t forget that Berea takes in NO tuition dollars at all. So… I don’t think “per student revenue” is the most valid way to judge financial health… and yet… that is all some people seem to want to talk about when it comes to school finances.
The federal goverenment and many states have been slashing at education budgets for a while. Schools are adapting to that slowly and most universities and colleges are feeling a pinch at this point.
Hopefully society gets our act together and pursues more supportive education policies soon. But in the meanwhile, you can’t suspend your higher education, so…
don’t get caught up in what some people say on here. Along with people sharing their valuable wisdom and experience, sadly, there are sometimes some trolls whose motives seem questionable. (I noticed that two of those guys commenting above seemed to fit that pattern and I see that they are now both banned from the site).
Anyway – Consider the voices you hear. But don’t let them make your decisions for you;
Take a step back and use the wide angle on finances for the schools you are looking at. Check the endowment, check their new construction, check recent giving to the school, check their aid policies and values, and… talk to the people. See how you feel after that.
If you love the place; if you get accepted; and if you get a package that allows you to attend, and commits for your FOUR years… then… you definitely should enroll.