Robert Heil, CEO of Financial Aid Services, joins me to talk about removing friction from the financial aid process, the importance of comparing good and bad 4-year graduation rates, and finding ways to make colleges more accountable for graduating their students. Robert also talks about the challenges of college leaders in this day and age. It's w…

This week we dissect and analyze: Trite strategic plans Cash-Strapped Colleges Are Selling Their Prized Art and Mansions Adding sports teams is a leading indicator of colleges in financial trouble The macro enrollment tumble v. the micro impact. Middle class students are now a marketing target To understand the future of higher education, look to t…

With consolidations in many forms moving through colleges, Dr. Laura De Veau speaks from experience. She addresses these quesstions in this special edition of 'This Week in College Viability'. I reached out to Laura when I saw her post on Vanderbilt University announcing a new presence in Manhattan. (After we recorded the podcast on October 25, 202…

Headlines for the October 21, 2024 podcast More on cutbacks and layoffs Where are the Whit Students? College For All is Bad for Boys Columbia College (IL) takes big 2024 enrollment hit. New Mexico State University wants to create $137 M endowment for women's sports. Takeaways from this podcast episode. Corrections in data are crucial for credibilit…

I want to start off this week’s podcast with a personal observation. I watched some 40- 50,000 people run in the Chicago Marathon yesterday. It was a spectacle of humanity to see so many people invest so much into a challenging endeavor like running 26.2 miles Watching some 50,000 people pass you in a matter of about 90 minutes, is a lot of humanki…

This week’s top news and commentary: + Yet another college sees football as enrollment salvation + Standard and Poors: College competition and operational pain are the ‘new normal,’ + You Can Now Get Admitted to Hundreds of Colleges Without Even Applying + You get what you pay for. Free community college in Massachusetts expected to draw 45,000 stu…

Headlines this week: +Elizabethtown College: Fun place or not? +Bradley University enrollment dips below 5,000 for first time in over 30 years +High Schools are closing too. What will be the impact on colleges? Yet another college resets tuition with the age-od tag: “Our College has been a secret too well kept for too long,” + California campuses b…

This week's podcast focuses on desperation heaves and mea culpas'. I ask why can't college presidents be like college athletic coaches? For the first time ever, I announce that a college is not 'consideration worthy'. Those stories and much more in the September 23, 2024 'This Week in College Viability' podcast. LInks to College Viability Products:…

Welcome to the Sep 16 TWICV podcast. It is still summer in St. Louis. High 80’s most of this week. With any luck, the St. Louis Cardinals will be put out of their playoff hope misery shortly. And colleges continue to announce positive enrollment stories. ‘New enrollment record’, ‘Biggest class ever’ are just some of the typical headlines. That’s fi…

If I created titles for these podcasts, this one would be: Benefits of Hindsight in Closing a College. Dr. David Evans was the president of Vermont Southern College in 2019. His college was on the leading edge of a demise that has since impacted dozens more private colleges. Closure. In this special podcast, we discuss: The accreditor's role in the…

TWICV for September 9, 2024 We have all survived our first full weekend of college and professional football, so let’s get to the headlines for this episode: + Cutbacks and layoffs: Delta State + Rider University cuts student newspaper + Talladega College not shutting down, They have a 4-step plan + Drake U has an interesting spin on 2 highly-quali…

Is it fair to critique the financial health and viability of colleges? I am a sports enthusiast. I rarely care who wins; but I enjoy watching the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat as we used to hear on The Wide World of Sports. Recently, I noticed local and national sport writers and talking heads break down many games to a play by play lev…

Here are the questions Ben Unglesbee addressed during our podcast interview. With all of the research and report you do, what is your sense of the stability of private colleges for this academic year? Let's talk about the FAFSA Debacle. What is the latest you are hearing? Do you have any best-case and worst-case scenarios for this Fall? You did a l…

This week's podcast starts with a WWII sampling bias story that strongly relates to college enrollment. My thanks to Jon Boeckenstedt for making the connection. + Alverno College received and HLS financial probation letter and nobody knows it. + Wisconsin week: UW Regents close college and lay off 32 tenured professors + Spinning Fall enrollment + …

If you think colleges are having troubles, here in St. Louis we can’t even get the city kids to school. The great St. Louis bus catastrophe kicks off today. My friend, Blythe Bernhard at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has done Pulitzer-worthy investigative stories on the colossal failure that is SLPS leadership. It’s not the kids, not the families, no…

Get the College Viability Student & Family updates here. College classes are beginning to bring students to campus for the Fall 2024 term. While the FAFSA Debacle is still out there, I am sensing some last-minute scrambling by both students and colleges to get the FAFSA app submitted and processed. I am going to stick with my forecast of 2-3 colleg…

St. Ambrose University President Amy Novak and Mount Mercy University President Todd Olson join me to discuss the strategic combination of their two organizations. Summary Dr. Amy Novak, president of St. Ambrose University, and Dr. Todd Olson, president of Mount Mercy University, discuss their strategic combination and the future of Iowa private co…

The end of July and early August produced a really slow news week in higher education. My google alerts on many higher education topics produced more alumni obituaries than anything else. But then Forbes released their 2024 Financial Grades for Private Colleges over the weekend. I will go into great detail about the article and its meaning for HE. …

Here are the questions from my interview with Rebeka Mazzone, Founder and CEO of FutureEDFinance. Tell us briefly about Futuredfinance. Talk about finance as a lagging indicator of a college's financial health. I spend a lot of time at institutions that have tried to solve this (operating deficit) problem with quick fixes. They tried short-term bum…

The end of July is upon us. The Olympics are all over the TV and news. I understand there is a presidential election in about 100 days. I just saw 5 Bucks and 3 does wandering through my typical American suburb street. And none of this changes that fact that higher education in general and smaller, private colleges in particular, are headed toward …

Here are the lead news and commentary stories for July 22, 2024 Get the College Viability Student & Family updates here. Layoffs, cutbacks, closures & FAFSA check ins. Folks it is going to be 10-11% decrease in enrollment. Not everywhere, but it will be in colleges that cant’ afford to lose anything like that number of students. + HLGU (MO) has a d…

It was last Monday that Northwestern College (IL) (NOT University)announced its closure. They announced it on Monday. They had turned out the lights the previous Saturday. So, let’s start this hot summer week in anticipation of the next college that will wreak havoc on its students, faculty, and community with another short-notice closure. This wee…

This special podcast episode of 'This Week in College Viability' continues our focus on the financial health of colleges. My guest is Jeff Spear, CEO of CFO Colleague. Here are two of the many strong observations from Jeff. 1. "Too many colleges are like a speeding minivan with no driver, heading for a cliff, while the occupants argue over what DVD…

My special guest in this podcast episode is Raphael Courtland. Mr. Courtland has a long history in finance and in higher education. We discuss: Large-scale mergers and consolidation in higher education The role that debt is playing in the financial health of many colleges Whether there is anything financially-challenged colleges can do to recover. …

As the competition in 2024 Paris Olympics draw near, we are sadly seeing competition for the shortest notice of a college closure. More shortly. + How To Throw Away A Million Dollars + Applications are not enrollments. MSN gets lazy. + Don’t mess with The College Fix. MIT plus 1200 + Hampshire thinks a morsel of good news is a feast. + A faculty st…

It is the July 1, 2024 This Week in College Viability podcast. Here are the leading stories. + Layoffs, cutbacks, and closures + More FAFSA Debacle reports + Bradley U gets a College Viabilitystar for being forthright and honest. It’s faculty does not get to share the award. + Why so many colleges are closing now - and what it means for students ( …

If you bring Thom Chesney onto your podcast, you get to ask some aggressive questions. Here are some Dr. Chesney addressed: What is on the minds of private college governing boards? Will the 'one-college-closure-per-week' trend continue? Why do so few people seem to know the most important information about a college's future prospects? When will w…

Ashley Kern founded Sightline (sightlinedata.com) to bring an individualized data science focus for colleges. Ms. Kern discusses: Data enterpreneurs in higher ed and their impact The FAFSA Debacle The Sightline niche Market analysis services Using data to improve graduation rates SightLine is a nationally certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE)…

It's not often we get to look inside a college closure. Jay Keehn lived it at Union Institute and University. Dr. Keehn was at Union Institute and University fro 18 years until he left in 2023. Like Jonathon Nichols with his book Requiem for a College and his experience at the closure of St. Joseph's College (IN), Jay Keehn takes us through the chr…

This week's top headlines: + Cash is King at Lindenwood University + Do protests really impact enrollment that much? Emerson College says it does. + U Arts (PA) closure is still a mess + Ryan Craig: The Financial Responsibility Emperor Has No Clothes + College sports is not a cure-all for enrollment and finances Concordia Ann Arbor is eliminating t…

An important group of higher education leaders with a diverse set of experiences weigh in on the potential of a federal bailout of private colleges this Fall and the impact it would have on higher education. The participants are Ricardo Azziz, Joe Sallustion, Sarah Holtan, and Brian Rosenberg. Bios are below. Some of the questions addressed by the …

We are entering the hot weather season -- and the really hot seat season for colleges. There is increasing anecdotal evidence that the FAFSA debacle will cause much trauma this Fall and Spring. I am starting to see a small number of colleges take what I am going to call ‘proactive layoffs and cutbacks’. This week: + Philadelphia’s University of the…

Dean Hoke, President and CEO of the American Association of University Administrators joins me for a special episode of TWICV. Some of the questions we cover include: 1. Dean's vision for up and coming higher education leaders 2. He discusses the 'triple witch' of circumstances facing colleges. 3. I ask Dean about the differences in leadership of s…

Here are the headlines for the June 10, 2024 TWICV podcast. Columbia College (IL) in the news again with a final layoff announcement College Enrollment Up For Second Semester In A Row, Finds New Report GS: I will tell you why that is misleading. Tuition discounts at private nonprofit colleges reach new highs, study finds U Arts (Philly) another rea…

Here are the headlines from the May 20, 2024 episode + 3 colleges in the cutbacks, layoffs, and closure list + 3 Missouri privates don’t respond well to being on a ‘watch list’ + The abrupt closure of Wells College. Bad for the industry. . . + Student loan interest rates go up – a lot on July 1st. + NY rep introduces bill to establish rules for a c…

A look at St. Cloud State’s plan to cut 46 degrees i-dotters and t-crossers High Schools are bracing for widespread teacher layoffs. Here’s why Spin. Spin. Spin. At Illinois Tech STL PD and college closures in its region Cleveland .com: Editor: Buffoonery, incompetence and lies “Our job, though, is to call them out. So, we do.” Show note links: ‘A …

On a busy closing and cutback week, my news and commentary this week includes: Keystone College (PA) in trouble Alverno College (WI) cutsback Wells closes. Sends students to a college that is all financially weak. Northland College continues to string along its faculty, staff, students, and community Talk of a catastrophic Fall continues 200 NCAA D…

These are the news and commentary headlines for April 29, 2024 · Northland College (WI) just can’t find anyone to turn of the light switch. · A really good student-written article about Drake U’s financial challenges · Dubuque named and Spalding searching for new presidents. We will go to the data for both. · Jon Marcus at Hechinger had one of his …

In this special edition of 'This Week in College Viability' we hear from an alum of a college that is clearly in significant financial trouble. Jeremy Lakosh is a 2005 graduate of Eureka College (IL). He is the CEO of a retirement community in Eureka and has spent 6-years on the Eureka Alumni Board - and led the group for 2 years. Mr. Lakosh's stor…

The April 22nd episode includes these news stories and commentary HLC says: ‘We are not hospice’ What happens to faculty, staff, students and the community when a college closes The Boston Globe must be reading and listening to my content. They talk about the right way to close a college. Webster University auditors have concerns about the universi…

This week top stories include: · Why are financial statement auditors not giving us a heads-up on trouble colleges? I will share the results of my research on recently closed colleges and what is NOT in their audited financial statements · Is it a college or is it a tuition collection agency. Keystone College is our case study. · Delusion from NDC …

Nobody can articulate the trials and tribulations of a closing college better than Jonathon Nichols. His 2022 book, 'Requiem for a College' details both the emotional trauma he and his St. Joseph College (IN) faced as the college moved from fear of closing -- to actual closure a few months later. His book also describes the research Jon did on the …

In this week's episode, here are some of the news and commentaries. Northland College is going to hold more bake sales (Sarcasm alert) Mike Rowe ( of Dirty Jobs) has a spot on todays podcast. USDA loans are not all they are cracked up to be. The College Counterpoint podcast The president of a closing college talks about closures – en masse. Purchas…

There is nothing like the voice of experience. Jon Nichols experienced a private college closure in 2017 at St. Joseph's (IN). Mr. Nichols shares similarities and differences from the private college clousure he experience with what he knows about the recent closure of Fontbonne University in St. Louis His book, 'Requiem for a College' describes th…

This Week in College Viability for April 1, 2024 1. Layoffs Cutbacks and Closures 2. Faculty power under pressure in KY 3. St. Martin’s WA on the watch 4. Bluffton / U Findlay merger: not enough 5. West Conn. U: Pom Poms from the president 6. Lesley U faculty is really good at no-confidence votes – Now if they could only graduate more than 50% of t…

Debbie Kepple-Mamros is my guest for this special episode of This Week in College Viability. Debbie leads the institutional research function for the Des Moines (IA) Area Community College system. She provides guidance on the IR function, adult markets, 'data days' staff training, the nuances about counting students, and much more.…

Dr. Paula Langteau was president at Presentation College. She developed critical processes for assessing an institution's financial viability and implementing key protocols to close an institution with dignity and compassion. The Higher Learning Commission heralded that work as the most comprehensive in assisting in the transition of students, facu…

Here are the headline stories for the March 25, 2024 episode of 'This Week in College Viability'. MU Is our cutback college this week – but in a different business sense. Is Hampshire College really on its way back? Columbia College in Chicago is searching for couch money to survive Bluffton U and U of Findlay merger: Is two enough? BSC is back in …

Here are some of the news and commentary for March 18, 2024 Carbon Monoxide detectors turned off at Evergreen State College NDC student impact story. Public college consolidation continues to jump into HE news cycles. Dept of Ed wants pathetic minimum graduation thresholds FAFSA fiasco update EY Parthenon dances around the details on high risk coll…

Here are some of the stories for the March 11th 'This Week in College Viability podcast. Student impact story on NDC closure Stories from Fitch & Bloomberg on HE Mississippi joins the merger/consolidation movement U Virginia: 1000 undergrads to pay the base salaries of DEI staff? Basketball team without a college Show notes and links: St. Norbert C…