Roanoke College

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In financial trouble.

Cite?

Reducing tuition. Low enrollment. Small endowment.

Gimmicks to attract students.

https://cardinalnews.org/2023/05/25/roanoke-colleges-rebrand-plan-includes-an-mba-program-football-and-even-a-food-truck/

You might be confused. You think making it more affordable to attract more students is a sign of trouble? Your cite makes Roanoke look innovative which is the opposite of financial issues.

It's hard to say what exactly would be the "opposite" of financial issues. My first thought was having of exorbitant wealth. "Innovative" did not come to mind. In any case, Roanoke, like many private colleges of its size and stature, has faced declining enrolment and needs students badly. Not unique to Roanoke and not something that can be denied.

Roanoke has more undergraduate students than W&L. Does W&L need students badly?

Absolutely not! As is evidenced by their 20% acceptance rate, there is more than enough demand for a Washington & Lee education.

So Roanoke’s size is actually irrelevant?Why are you worried about acceptance rate? JMU accepts 76%, similar to Roanoke’s 79%. Is JMU in financial trouble?

I have no idea. Maybe. I do know that Roanoke does not receive state funding in the same way that JMU does.

Do you think every private college that isn’t selective is in financial trouble? In other words, every college in VA that isn’t W&L and UR.

Absolutely not! I do think that most schools in financial trouble are unselective private schools.

How do you define unselective? Do you have any actual evidence that Roanoke is in financial trouble?

Did you read the article posted earlier? They couldn't afford to re-start their football team. Their endowment is a measly $100 million. Declining enrollment, tuition dependent.

What are you talking about? Their football team was restarted and had a winning record. Who said enrollment is declining?

Read the article.

[Anonymous]

I went to Roanoke in the late 90s. Loved my time there. Small school, great professors, awesome school spirit. A great spot for average/good students. As another poster said, alumni group is very strong and help w job placement. I don't think there is financial difficulty there. They just had a pledge for a new $30million science center. It's not for everyone, but I loved it and know lots of kids who have been there recently and love it as well.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:In financial trouble.

Cite?

Reducing tuition. Low enrollment. Small endowment.

Gimmicks to attract students.

https://cardinalnews.org/2023/05/25/roanoke-colleges-rebrand-plan-includes-an-mba-program-football-and-even-a-food-truck/

You might be confused. You think making it more affordable to attract more students is a sign of trouble? Your cite makes Roanoke look innovative which is the opposite of financial issues.

It's hard to say what exactly would be the "opposite" of financial issues. My first thought was having of exorbitant wealth. "Innovative" did not come to mind. In any case, Roanoke, like many private colleges of its size and stature, has faced declining enrolment and needs students badly. Not unique to Roanoke and not something that can be denied.

Roanoke has more undergraduate students than W&L. Does W&L need students badly?

Absolutely not! As is evidenced by their 20% acceptance rate, there is more than enough demand for a Washington & Lee education.

So Roanoke’s size is actually irrelevant?Why are you worried about acceptance rate? JMU accepts 76%, similar to Roanoke’s 79%. Is JMU in financial trouble?

I have no idea. Maybe. I do know that Roanoke does not receive state funding in the same way that JMU does.

Do you think every private college that isn’t selective is in financial trouble? In other words, every college in VA that isn’t W&L and UR.

Absolutely not! I do think that most schools in financial trouble are unselective private schools.

How do you define unselective? Do you have any actual evidence that Roanoke is in financial trouble?

Did you read the article posted earlier? They couldn't afford to re-start their football team. Their endowment is a measly $100 million. Declining enrollment, tuition dependent.

What are you talking about? Their football team was restarted and had a winning record. Who said enrollment is declining?

Read the article.

The article is almost two years old and talks about Roanoke being proactive to reinvent itself. Hardly a hit piece. Let us know if you find evidence that the rebrand didn’t work.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:We visited it and the campus is cute but Roanoke/Salem is average. For the price, MW, CNU or Longwood seem like better options.

Isn’t Roanoke College and the area nicer than the state schools you listed? Why would a state school be better?

So true, who would choose state schools (yuck) like UVA and William and Mary over private schools (elite) like Hollins and Mary Baldwin! State schools are so icky!

Why is Longwood, MW or CNU better than Roanoke?

We thought they offered similar education for less money, and more recognition as state schools than Roanoke. I think all are somewhat larger. And better locations as we didn’t like Roanoke. We were not eligible for FA.

[Anonymous]

It seems like it is worth a look.
But why the criticism of CNU, Longwood and UMW? I haven't been to Longwood but CNU and UMW have beautiful campuses. And downtown Fredericksburg is so fun.

[Anonymous]

Schools like Roanoke need to adopt the Bridgewater approach.

Stop advertising a total COA of $55k...when nearly 100% of all students get like $30k in aid. The high rack rate/everyone-discounted approach won't work anymore.

Bridgewater slashed their total COA by 60% (with no more merit for everyone) and subsequently saw a jump in applications.

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure about Roanoke’s finances, but FWIW, Forbes magazine gave them an A- in 2023 (need a subscription to access 2024).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2023/04/26/forbes-2023-college-financial-grades-the-strongest-and-weakest-colleges/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure about Roanoke’s finances, but FWIW, Forbes magazine gave them an A- in 2023 (need a subscription to access 2024).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2023/04/26/forbes-2023-college-financial-grades-the-strongest-and-weakest-colleges/

It dropped to a C+ in 2024, but almost every college fell. Loyola-Chicago, Marquette, and Hobart William Smith also got C+'s. Receiving B-'s were Gettysburg, Union, and Rochester, to name a few.

If that's the company Roanoke is keeping, I'd say they're doing OK.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure about Roanoke’s finances, but FWIW, Forbes magazine gave them an A- in 2023 (need a subscription to access 2024).

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2023/04/26/forbes-2023-college-financial-grades-the-strongest-and-weakest-colleges/

It dropped to a C+ in 2024, but almost every college fell. Loyola-Chicago, Marquette, and Hobart William Smith also got C+'s. Receiving B-'s were Gettysburg, Union, and Rochester, to name a few.

If that's the company Roanoke is keeping, I'd say they're doing OK.

Wow, that seems like a big drop in just one year. Lots of colleges struggling financially these days…

[Anonymous]

John Mulheren went there. He was an icon on The Street in the 1980s. It's in no way a top finance school like Penn, Colgate, Bucknell, Williams, etc., but their alumni do seem to look out for one another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Schools like Roanoke need to adopt the Bridgewater approach.

Stop advertising a total COA of $55k...when nearly 100% of all students get like $30k in aid. The high rack rate/everyone-discounted approach won't work anymore.

Bridgewater slashed their total COA by 60% (with no more merit for everyone) and subsequently saw a jump in applications.

Lynchburg took the same approach as Bridgewater.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Strangely a LOT of comments are going missing

In this thread?

Yep. Seems like there’s some censorship

A lot of claims that folks can’t provide evidence to support.

Do people need a claim and evidence sheet every time they post here now? Sheesh, it’s becoming Reddit.

You can't be serious. You think you can throw out a claim with no citation and people will just... believe you? That's not how it works. You make the claim, you provide the evidence.
DP

That is certainly not the standard on an anonymous forum like DCUM. This isn’t exactly a court of law with rules of evidence.

Are you new here? Provide evidence or get called out. DP.

+1
PP must be new here. Anyone who has been on DCUM for even a month or two knows that you always provide a citation for your claims. Or else they're just really stupid.