@scsiguru You’re right about Washburn. Meant to write McPherson College, which is a small LAC in Kansas, not an institution which is vitally important to the surrounding community in the way Washburn is.
One thing many small privates seem to do is ignore the local community–esp if it is more blue collar and/or rural and outside the northeast. That might be an opening for survival. Randolph College is now giving all locals a low tuition deal. LU also does this to a degree.
Wouldn’t even urban colleges risk going through tough times financially? Wouldn’t New York University and Polytechnic Institute of {Brooklyn, New York, New York University} be historic examples?
“Yield does indeed indicate a level of preference but it does not always offer valid comparisons. Just think how high yields are the domain of HYPS and … Nebraska; Tulane has lowish yields.”
Yield is a function of a lot of things. At UVA, the yield for in-state accepted applicants is in the 60s – up at the HYP level. UVA’s yield for out-of-state accepted students is in the 20s. Why?
UVA is an unbeatable price/prestige value proposition for many families at the in-state price. At the higher out-of-state price, there’s a lot of schools that would offer a comparable proposition and so the yield reflects that.
Very true. Pointing to college rural environment as reason for hard times seems like a stretch. Williams, middle burry, Bodwin? A lot ok kids are drawn to the rural environment.
@momneeds2no, those LACs you listed aren’t exactly on the same prestige/desirability tier as Sweet Briar.
Being in a rural area definitely cuts down on options in when a LAC stops being able to attract it’s traditional client base.
Those are all high prestige NE colleges near major cities with powerful alumni etc. Near similar boarding schools too. Tradition matters too.
BTW, @xiggi, Bates has offered a 3-year option for decades now.
For some reason, it’s not as popular an option among Americans as you may think (and if someone really wants to graduate in 3 years, many colleges permit some overloading; and scoring high enough to get AP credits isn’t extremely hard).
“Just based on gut feel from visits and nothing more, Mt Holyoke seemed like the weakest of the “4 biggies” in women’s colleges (Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Mt Holyoke). It just didn’t seem as big-league as the other 3.”
Measured by how much they have to discount tuition, a lot of students have the same impression. Note that Mt. Holyoke is also the most rural/small town of the four. (Smith is in the same general region, but you can walk to a lively downtown with bars, cafes, a theater, etc. – the feel is very different.) I don’t think that’s a coincidence.
“Williams, middle burry, Bodwin? A lot ok kids are drawn to the rural environment.”
Look at the yield of these schools as compared to urban/suburban universities with similar SAT levels.
Middlebury is sort of a red herring comparison. To take a closer analog in Vermont, how confident are you that Marlboro will still be around in 15 years?
Re: 3 year option
Graduating in three years is doable with overloading (sometimes AP credit can help) at many schools. But not too many students seem to be that motivated to do so.
Of course, from the school’s point of view, it needs to have more students pass through if many graduate early. Publics may desire that to increase access, but small privates may find that to be another enrollment management problem.
@hanna what do you mean by “discount tution”? Do you mean FA or Merit or both? How do you find the discount info?
Marlboro. Do they have overhead? How much can yurt cost? Just kidding…
I wonder how heating costs from this horrible winter will impact budgets at Ne schools. I know that j-term is stagy for lowering heating cost…
What do you mean by stagy?
I believe institutions count any non-loan-financed reduction to tuition as a discount. According to theWashington Post, the average tuition discount at private colleges is 46%. Less selective schools approach enrollment management (which is the institutional name for admissions) a lot like hotels manage capacity, and relatively few people pay the rack rate. But we have prettier names for the price discounts and some are based on ability to pay.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2015/03/02/just-how-high-can-college-tuition-go/
PT, I am not familiar with what Bates is offering and have no opinion to offer. However, the 3 years plan to overload an existing program or rely on AP quasi college credits is not what I have in mind. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/3-year-college-degree-programs-not-catching-on/2011/06/15/AGX7VYWH_story_1.html
I am not surprised that an alternative is not popular in the US. We are conformists.
strategy. Typing from an iPhone with tiny keys and bad eyesight .
“what do you mean by “discount tution”? Do you mean FA or Merit or both? How do you find the discount info?”
It was on the conference call. The discount percentage was in the low-mid 60s. Pres. James said that Mt. Holyoke, by comparison, was discounting a percentage in the 50s with an endowment about seven times larger.
The discounting of tuition is a term that shows up in strategic plans of colleges.
You can find references in googling the term and adding a school. For example
https://www.mtholyoke.edu/iplanning/preliminary_strategic_plan
In simple words, schools calculate the value of the net tuition they can expect to collect after HAVING to discount via merit or need based aid. The practice of discounting is often a necessity.