Will Admissions Stats At LACs Actually Decline This Year?

Parents Forum
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Are Swarthmore and Middlebury "in the same financial tier"?

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<p>Heavens, no. Middlebury hasn't even been operating "in equilibrium" in recent years. In other words, it's been spending above its allowable maximum targets for endowment spending and trying to bring that percentage down. Their goal had been to get endowment spending down to their targeted 5% by this year (FY2009). In other words, they've been spending the endowment. </p>

<p>Swarthmore's endowment spending has been at the low end of its conservative spending targets (3.75% to 4.75%) in recent years. Not only in equlibrium, but in equlibrium with a cushion.</p>

<p>This is not to say that Middlebury is weak financially. It is a tough one to comment on because its one of the few big endowment schools that doesn't publish its annual financial reports.</p>

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[quote]
i can certainly see a scenario where every tier I LAC but Swarthmore cuts back on need-blind aid for internationals (Middlebury and Williams have already hinted broadly at doing so.) People would then have to decide whether having 5% of a student body from overseas rather than 10% is a deal-breaker for them.

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<p>Swarthmore has never been need-blind for internationals. Their percentage of internationals receiving aid is about the same as the percentage of US students (roughly 50%). They had been muttering about going need-blind for internationals, but I don't see that as even being on the table at this point. </p>

<p>More next week. The Swat board meets this weekend and I expect to see some details of cost cutting emerge. Only broad outlines have been discussed so far -- like allowing endowment spending percentage to drift up to keep endowment dollar spending next year flat or only slightly down. I expect some significant cost cutting measures phased in over the next three years.</p>

<p>They were fortunate to be finished with all the planned major building projects. Nothing was even really at the planning stage.</p>

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<p>Apparently, it's already happening:</p>

<p>"The shortage of teachers will result in changes to the course offerings of the chemistry and biochemistry department. According to Rablen, Chemistry 001, the introductory course offered primarily for non-majors, and Chemistry 010S, the first-year seminar that parallels General Chemistry, will probably not be offered next year. However, “no course that’s required for the major is going to be compromised,” Rablen said."
Economy</a> disrupts hiring - The Phoenix</p>

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<p>Does anyone know if Wesleyan is altering its plans for a new science center. I remember last year the school was focused on where to put it.</p>

<p>Now, is it tabled?</p>

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<p>^^^It's been tabled. The new one was slated to upgrade the OSHA defficiencies that crept in over the years. Wesleyan still attracts three times more NSF/NIH money than its peers.</p>

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<p>There's some posturing in that Chem quot, johnwesley. I'm not going to cry alligator tears for the Swarthmore Chem Department. They have eight tenure-track professors plus an emeritus still around plus a full-time visiting prof plus three Lecturers. For an average of six Chemistry Majors and six Biochem joint majors in each of the last three years. I think they'll be able to muddle through.</p>

<p>BTW, the course he mentions is the one-semester Chemistry for poets type course. The two semester general chemistry intro course for bio, premed, physics, and engineering majors will still be offered. As will Chem 10, which is the more intenstive intro course for Chemistry majors. It is offered each semester in three versions: the regular lecture course, the honors version, and the first-year seminar version. He refers to not offering the first-year seminar version (only six students registered for that version last fall).</p>

<p>But, yes.. I expect there to be pressure on the size of Swarthmore's faculty with reduced hiring for the foreseeable future. I expect there will be salary freezes as well. I don't see many colleges escaping those realities. The budget cuts are almost impossible to achieve without going after faculty and staff costs -- the biggest line item.</p>

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<p>Thanks, JWes @145. I'm sure there are both disappointed grad students & profs. At least with Obama's administration more money should be earmarked for research. I hope it trickles down to not only Wesleyan, but other LACs, as opposed to just large research universities & institutions.</p>

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<p>Furthermore:</p>

<p>The Chemistry 001 for poets type course mentioned as a casualty was only offered in the spring semester this year. It has 11 students enrolled, less than half of the 25 student limit. So dropping this course and one of the three versions offered of the intro course for majors: I think they'll muddle thru.</p>

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<p>Amherst's cash call problems appear to be related to heavy investments in hedge fund alternatives and to resource funds (oil, timber).</p>

<p>Here's a comparison of the asset allocation of Swarthmore and Amherst on July 1, 2008:</p>

<p>


Swat  Amherst         </p>

<p>28% 8%      Domestic Equity 
18% 17%     International Equity<br>
13% 28%     Marketable Alternatives 
18% 19%     Private Equity<br>
4%  0%      Real Estate 
2%  17%     Natural Resources<br>
1%  1%      Other Equity<br>
15% 7%      U.S. Bonds<br>
2%  3%      Cash Equivalents

</p>

<p>The big differences are domestic equity, marketable alternatives, natural resources, and Treasury Bills.</p>

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<p>Swat's asset allocation was more conservative than Amherst's.</p>

<p>Natural resources, as an asset class, has been annihilated.</p>

<p>I have no idea what marketable alternatives means.</p>

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<p>Marketable alternatives is a catch phrase for the entire gamut of hedge funds, derivatives, futures contracts, absolute return funds the speculative swaps described in the Harvard article and so forth. As near as I can tell, it includes some types of investments that are pretty risky and some that are reasonably conservative. They are subject to hefty cash call commitments.</p>

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<p>Yeah. It's a very broad measure. Can be extremely risky.</p>

<p>I wonder if Amherst invested in CDOs. In subprime.</p>

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<p>At 37%, Swarthmore's overhang from non-market traded investments, was more than I thought. Not as much as Amherst's, though.</p>

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<p>To bring this back to the original question, I think the answer is yes, it looks to me like it will be easier to get into most LACs than it's been in the past few years. And that most will have to go deep into the waiting list to find a class who's families can and will pay this year.</p>

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<p>Most of the big research money in the stimulus bill is in NIH and alternative energy. Very little of this money finds its way to LACs, though occasionally there are some LAC scientists who are co-PIs on big multi-institutional grants. The big winners here in the short term will be the 15 or 20 most capable research universities, especially those already geared up with research capacity in place in medical and energy research and grant proposals already in the pipeline. Longer term I'd look for Obama to find a way to increase NAS funding as well, but again the big research Us will get most of the goodies.</p>

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<p>^^I think you have a point, bclintonk. It makes Wesleyan's proximity to Yale and UConn all the more fortunate: Stem</a> Cell Central -- Courant.com</p>

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<p>Swarthmore had more ED applications than ever before. Don't know about RD yet. Class</a> of 2013 Starts to Take Shape :: The Daily Gazette</p>

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<p>I'm wondering if more kids will be taken off the waitlist this year. Since we made the college list last summer, things have changed enough so that there is no way that DS can go to some of the places he's applied without financial aid. (I'm self employed. Last year I did well, so that shows up on the fafsa and css, but no one is spending money this year.)</p>

<p>If there are many students in our situation who will have to unexpectedly decline admission offers, the colleges could be digging deep into those waitlists.</p>

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<p>That seems highly likely IMO, Indiana. They will probably adjust a bit in the numbers initially accepted, but since they haven't seen anything this bad since the 1930's, it seems most likely that they will have large wait lists and go to them as the magnitude can be measured.</p>

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<p>Swarthmore's Board finally approved the first four prongs of the budget for the fiscal year starting July 2009:</p>

<p>BoM</a> Budget Decisions: Tuition Increases 3.76&#37, 16 Extra Students :: The Daily Gazette</p>

<p>1) Based on the assumption that the endowment decline will be 30% at year end.</p>

<p>2) Endowment spending will increase from 3.7% last year to just under 6% next year (the highest in school history). I believe that holds the dollar spending from the endowment roughly flat from the current fiscal year.</p>

<p>3) Tuition and fees increase will be the smallest in ten years: 3.76%. This year's no-loan policies for both new and returning students will continue, as will the current expectations for summer and workstudy earning levels.</p>

<p>4) Enrollment will increase by 34 students over four years, with half of the increase (16 students) coming next year.</p>

<p>5) Facilities capital spending will be reduced by $5 million from current levels to $3.3 million next year by postponing discretionary office rennovations and non-critical projects. </p>

<p>6) Although not finalized yet, a salary freeze for faculty and staff is being "strongly considered". Salary cuts and layoffs are not anticipated at this time. There has already been a move to only hire critical positions (a selective hiring freeze), thus reducing employment levels by attrition.</p>