<p>Williams Stuffs Students Into Dorms as Economy Pares Endowments
2009-04-01 04:00:01.3 GMT</p>
<p>By Janet Frankston Lorin
April 1 (Bloomberg) -- Wesleyan University plans to add 120
students to help shore up finances after its endowment fell 22
percent, an indication the recession is forcing doors to open a
bit wider at top-rated U.S. colleges.
The extra enrollees, an increase of about 4 percent for the
college in Middletown, Connecticut, will arrive during the next
four years and bring about $4.7 million in new revenue, said
David Pesci, a university spokesman. To accommodate the
addition, Wesleyan will convert some dormitory rooms to double
or triple occupancy, he said.
Experiencing investment losses, Amherst College, Cornell
University, Johns Hopkins University and Bowdoin College are
also planning to increase student populations, according to the
schools admissions and public-relations officials. The
institutions gain income because the expansions generally dont
require new buildings or faculty, said Michael McPherson,
president of the Chicago-based Spencer Foundation, which funds
education research.
What a lot of places seem to be doing in response to the
current economic situation is easing up on the supply of places
by letting in a few more kids, said McPherson, formerly
president of Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. If
there is a little bit less luxury in the way things are
provided, I think thats a good tradeoff.
The plans to seat more students are the latest indication
of financial turmoil that has unsettled colleges, students and
their parents since the economic crisis began last year, said
Morton Schapiro, an economist and president of Williams College,
which plans to enlarge its class by 10 students for the next
academic year.
Schools are looking to augment revenue to replace the
amount of money they take from the endowment, said Schapiro.
If the market hadnt tumbled, they probably wouldnt be
looking there.</p>
<pre><code> Rooms at Williams
Notices of admission from the school, in Williamstown,
</code></pre>
<p>Massachusetts, were available electronically on March 27, as the
peak season for private-college admissions got under way.
Williams can absorb extra students because enough rooms meant to
accommodate two residents have been used for single occupants,
he said.
At Johns Hopkins, in Baltimore, the admissions offices
ability to help raise revenue has become important, as
philanthropy, the endowment, and funding from the state of
Maryland all are declining, said John Latting, dean of
undergraduate admissions.
My orders are, Look, if you can grow the class and the
quality remains high and the students are bringing in revenue,
lets do that, he said in a phone interview.
If the applicant pool is strong, the school plans to double
its incoming transfer students to 70 to make up for the loss of
revenue as more Hopkins students elect to spend time abroad,
Latting said. The extra transfer students may generate as much
as $1.4 million in revenue, Latting said.</p>
<pre><code> Budget Shortfall
The school disclosed in February that it is facing a $100
</code></pre>
<p>million budget shortfall for the next two fiscal years after its
endowment fell about 20 percent in the second half of 2008.
When colleges needed more money in previous years, they
would step up tuition, said Sandy Baum, an economist at Skidmore
College in Saratoga Springs, New York. The average cost increase
for private schools was 5.9 percent last year, according to the
New York-based College Board, the publisher of college-entrance
tests.
During the recession colleges are trying to avoid large
tuition increases and avoid cutting their student aid, said
Baum, who is also senior policy analyst for the College Board.
Financial needs are prompting Amherst to step up increases
in enrollment. Two years ago, Amherst decided to add 80 students
in stages by 2012, taking advantage of the richness of the
applicant pool, said Tom Parker, dean of admission and
financial aid.</p>
<pre><code> Target Altered
In January, the school increased the expansion target to
</code></pre>
<p>180, or more than 10 percent of the current population, because
of fiscal considerations, he said. The endowment fell 26
percent in six months, to $1.26 billion on Dec. 31, according to
the school.
Amhersts expansion plan would create the largest campus
population in its 188-year history, Parker said. The school, in
Amherst, Massachusetts, now has 1,697 students.
Amherst enrolled 438 first-year students in 2008, accepting
15 percent of applicants, Parker said.
If we didnt have this amazing applicant pool, then
growth might come at the price of quality, President Anthony
Marx said in a phone interview. The school will maintain its
commitment to financial aid, and probably half of the new
students will receive help, he said.</p>
<pre><code> Netting $2 Million
After taking into account extra costs, the latest planned
</code></pre>
<p>increase of 100 students should net Amherst about $2 million
over four years, Marx said. The college could generate more
money if it didnt plan to hire more faculty to ensure
maintenance of educational quality and faculty-student ratio,
he said.
Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine, will add 10 students
in each of the next five years unless the economy improves, said
Scott Hood, a spokesman. Now, 1,723 students attend the school.
Bowdoin may take more international students, who typically
arent offered financial aid, Hood said.
When Bowdoin expanded enrollment by 6 percent in the years
1994 to 1996, it also added professors, classroom and dorm
space, and science programs, Hood said. There are no such plans
this cycle, he said.
The enrollment targets set by colleges arent always met,
as admissions officers cant predict exactly how many offers
will be accepted, said Simeon Moss, a spokesman for Cornell
University in Ithaca, New York.
For the latest class that entered Cornell, the school set
an enrollment target of 3,050 and wound up with 3,139, 89 more
than planned, according to the school. Now Cornell has raised
its target for the next entering class to 3,150.</p>
<pre><code> Not Exact Science
You do your best with those numbers, but it isnt an
</code></pre>
<p>exact science, Moss said.
Enlarging the student body is one step Cornell is taking to
close a projected $215 million budget gap over five years, after
the schools endowment fell 30 percent in the last year to $4.5
billion, said Joanne DeStefano, vice president of finance.
The additional seats at colleges dont necessarily mean
that students will have an easier time getting in, said Bruce
Breimer, who directed college guidance for 37 years at the
Collegiate School, a private institution in New York, and
retired two years ago.
I dont see a tremendous advantage for people applying,
nor do I see a downside if the schools have more kids, he said
in a telephone interview. Hopefully itll make it a little
easier for the group that has the most difficulty getting in:
the straight-up scholar who doesnt have a special tag, such
as athlete, musician or child of an alumnus.</p>
<pre><code> Applications Rise
At Wesleyan, undergraduate applications rose 22 percent
</code></pre>
<p>this year to 10,065, outpacing the planned increase in seats,
according to data provided by the university. Wesleyans
endowment fell 22 percent, to $503 million, in the six months
through Dec. 31, according to the school.
Expanding enrollment raises the question of whether the
percentage of students to faculty will still be low enough to
ensure quality classes, said Karen Leach, vice president for
administration and finance at Hamilton College in Clinton, New
York.
The school had planned to shrink its enrollment by 25
students this year, said Monica Inzer, dean of admission and
financial aid. The idea was to restore a student-to-faculty
ratio that had grown after more applicants than anticipated
accepted offers of admission to what are now the junior and
senior classes, she said.</p>
<pre><code> Cut Postponed
Because of endowment losses, Hamilton has postponed the
</code></pre>
<p>enrollment cut for at least three years, Inzer said, as keeping
25 extra students generates about $936,500 in revenue, after
financial aid.
Instead of returning to 9.5 to 1, the ratio of students to
faculty will stay closer to the current 9.8 to 1, Leach said.
The endowment fell about 29 percent in 2008, to about $510
million, according to the liberal-arts college.
We are maximizing use of existing resources, Leach said.
We cant do that forever. Were working right at the edge of
our bed counts right now.</p>