<p>They plan to build a new library, health sciences school, more dorms, more classrooms and other needed improvements.</p>
<p>Falwell?s</a> Liberty University Doubles Debt Selling $100 Million to Expand - Bloomberg</p>
<p>This is a very clever strategy that must be used when institutions have little or modest endowment to renovate and expand. What makes Liberty’s particularly creative and potentially productive is that as the story notes, the debt’s being funded by non-resident, online students who will have little impact upon those facilities they are constructing and the campus culture. The will generate the revenue without having to accommodate those students with rooms, board, and classroom facilities. Elon U. has essentially used the debt strategy to transform itself from a moribund, ugly dying college to a country club campus with waiting lists of wanna be students. The problem Elon has however, at this stage, is that to continue to sustain and develop they must continue to grow in enrollment with resident students, thus changing the place from a relatively small, campus community to an increasingly impersonal education by the numbers place. A tricky balance that at least for now, Liberty does not face. Like taking the mom and pop business that is very successful … public. But w/o having to listen to shareholders. Get the money with little aggravation and few strings!</p>
<p>Works as long as you can keep online student money flowing. 70,000 sounds like a lot but I’m no expert. If feds cut loans for online education could be a real bummer to the cash flow as I do know most online students pay with loans–not cash. LU already has a huge student loan number–largest in Virginia.</p>
<p>Yea, IF the feds were to cut student aid (haven’t they already done so?! Big time.) for on-line education that could be a major toe-stubber for Liberty. </p>
<p>But the reality of this is that cyber-academe is only going to grow as the market place dictates ease of access to carnegie unit learning. Distance learning ain’t going away. A far greater threat with the outrageous escalation beyond CoL and inflation of the cost of higher education joined with increased scrutiny of programmatic content and outcomes promises only more of what Liberty’s mining, not less. </p>
<p>Heck, now one can get a Penn State degree or a U. of Maryland sheepkin (or 2) without even being in the USA. All kinds of “what if” scenarios could be played about higher education, and many would seem to be a virtual waste of time. Not unlike too many 6 and 7 year baccalaureate degree journeys. It’s ironic that so many campuses have become married to the “go green and sustainable” mantra while a great many of these institutions are grossly over-built and funded to be sustained. So much for walking the talking.</p>