What trouble? Here are the elements. Descending endowments. Descending donations. Lower yields on many assets. Tighter credit for campus borrowers. Tighter credit for students and parents.
Depending on the campus, those factors are reducing application levels and increasing no-shows. Depending on the campus, they are also boosting financial aid requests and tuition discounting.
Some campuses are choosing to “duck and cover” -- reducing expenses that hopefully won’t inflict long-term negative effects on the institution. Travel, new hires, maintenance and other non-core activities. When expense reduction goes beyond duck and cover, more difficult and painful choices follow.
Some campuses are using the problems as an opportunity to engage in strategic planning and re-imagining of the future. Here are a few what-if's to consider if you are of a mind to do so.
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Tuition Caps. What if Congress imposed a tuition cap for any institution receiving federal funds for financial aid, loans or other programs? What if the cap is tens of thousands of dollars below your current tuition level? How adept would you be at recasting revenue and expense? Could you remain in operation without federal financial aid?
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Footprints. Key “footprints” are embedded in every campus, like the number of semesters/years to graduation, length of semesters, percent of instruction delivered in classrooms, size of classes, etc. Could one or more of them be altered on your campus in order to lower prices, attract students, insure compliance, remain in operation?
- Instructional technology. The SARS scare and 9/11 pushed the business community to adopt teleworking and web conferencing. What changes in teaching models might be beneficial in a difficult economy?
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High School-to-College. Economic pressures are hitting U.S. high schools. More will come to such a real-estate-dependent enterprise. Might articulation between high school and college be beneficially re-designed? Might collaboratiion produce a better model between grades 11 and college graduation?
- College-to-career. Might there be a better transition possible for college juniors and seniors as they make their way into a changing and difficult workplace?
There is no time like a tough time to engage in difficult conversations. Many U.S. colleges have weathered wars, disasters and bad economies - multiple times. Long-lasting innovation often results from changes made in times of crisis.
Elliott Masie is chair of The Learning CONSORTIUM and a trustee of Skidmore College.