State report says 7 Virginia universities should be monitored as enrollment cliff approaches

[Anonymous]

Interesting article and I was surprised to see Mary Washington having more problems than Radford or Longwood. Also surprised to see Christopher Newport in the list. Not surprised to see VA state or Norfolk. They should probably combine to be one strong school and maybe they could attract some students who were heading to Howard.

The report doesn’t mean any state level actions will take place but I think it is interesting and there likely does need to be action.


https://cardinalnews.org/2024/10/09/state-report-says-seven-small-universities-should-be-monitored-as-enrollment-cliff-approaches/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article and I was surprised to see Mary Washington having more problems than Radford or Longwood. Also surprised to see Christopher Newport in the list. Not surprised to see VA state or Norfolk. They should probably combine to be one strong school and maybe they could attract some students who were heading to Howard.

The report doesn’t mean any state level actions will take place but I think it is interesting and there likely does need to be action.


https://cardinalnews.org/2024/10/09/state-report-says-seven-small-universities-should-be-monitored-as-enrollment-cliff-approaches/

It’s interesting that you propose that VA State and Norfolk combine but not, say, Longwood and CNU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article and I was surprised to see Mary Washington having more problems than Radford or Longwood. Also surprised to see Christopher Newport in the list. Not surprised to see VA state or Norfolk. They should probably combine to be one strong school and maybe they could attract some students who were heading to Howard.

The report doesn’t mean any state level actions will take place but I think it is interesting and there likely does need to be action.


https://cardinalnews.org/2024/10/09/state-report-says-seven-small-universities-should-be-monitored-as-enrollment-cliff-approaches/

It’s interesting that you propose that VA State and Norfolk combine but not, say, Longwood and CNU.

CNU is infinitely more attractive than Longwood imo. Them combining would only bring CNU down.

[Anonymous]

VMI losing enrollment. Fewer kids want to go to school in the prison barracks and be yelled at as they do pushups, lol.

[Anonymous]

Whats the wnrollment cliff

[Anonymous]

The General Assembly has been quite vocal that they think that the big schools have “ganged up” on the smaller state schools. It’s going to be even harder for the big schools to get funding. Which creates a spiral effect.

[Anonymous]

I am really surprised to see CNU there.

[Anonymous]

UVA Wise is the easiest solution, just make transfer to UVA guaranteed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats the wnrollment cliff

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/23428166/college-enrollment-population-education-crash

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting article and I was surprised to see Mary Washington having more problems than Radford or Longwood. Also surprised to see Christopher Newport in the list. Not surprised to see VA state or Norfolk. They should probably combine to be one strong school and maybe they could attract some students who were heading to Howard.

The report doesn’t mean any state level actions will take place but I think it is interesting and there likely does need to be action.


https://cardinalnews.org/2024/10/09/state-report-says-seven-small-universities-should-be-monitored-as-enrollment-cliff-approaches/

"“In hopes of mitigating its enrollment decline, Mary Washington heavily discounted tuition and fees for several years,” the report said. “This heavy discounting weakened the institution’s pricing power in the higher education market for students. Mary Washington believed that if not enough students were willing to pay its tuition and fees, it needed to reduce them to entice more students to enroll. Though the discounting strategy may have helped stem enrollment loss, it reduced Mary Washington’s total revenue.” That’s forced the school to cut costs, the report said, and it has reduced staffing 20% since 2017, “primarily through attrition.” "

that aligns with how people view WMU- a good enough school that uses merit to attract students

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Whats the wnrollment cliff

Declining birth rates after 2007 mean there will be a continuous drop in college enrollment, which will add additional financial strain to institutions that are already struggling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The General Assembly has been quite vocal that they think that the big schools have “ganged up” on the smaller state schools. It’s going to be even harder for the big schools to get funding. Which creates a spiral effect.

Doesn't help the smaller schools are pushing that narrative too - I remember the Longwood president was calling for UVA and W&M to take less in-state students so students might going to Longwood again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA Wise is the easiest solution, just make transfer to UVA guaranteed

How does that help the Virginia colleges that are struggling financially?

[Anonymous]

Also from the same report....

https://wtop.com/education/2024/10/3-virginia-universities-with-some-viability-risks-study-finds/
"On Monday, Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, questioned if the risks against Virginia State have any connection to the institution not being funded to the same levels as Virginia Tech after the federal government estimated a year ago that VSU is owed over $277 million in state funding from 1987 to 2020.

Like Virginia Tech, the historically Black college in Petersburg is a land grant institution.

“It’s an HBCU and this state is known for not having funded HBCUs to the levels that they should be funded,” Locke said."


Virginia continues to underfund public schools.

[Anonymous]

Taxes will need to be raised to support these institutions. Underfunding HBCU’s has very questionable undertones.