Anyone else hearing “lots” of LACs already on the brink may close permanently this summer?

[Anonymous]

As in had already been running into financial trouble, Corona was tipping point? In my husband’s home state we’ve heard 4 to 7 privates may close. Plus the public regionals are going to need some sort of bailout from the legislature that may come with strings for state-wide consolidation. Wow.

[Anonymous]

Why? Because they had to refund room and board?

[Anonymous]

Less known LACs will, because of the general trend and not necessarily due to coronavirus alone.

1. Move towards natural sciences and engineering
2. Law is not the profession it once was
3. Hard to attract good professors with high teaching load and no research funds
4. No research funding which tends to fund overhead in larger universities, especially medical research

SLACs are still, and will always be, a much better place to study the humanities i.e. English, history, philosophy, than large public universities.

[Anonymous]

Who are you hearing the rumors from? What are the sources? You sound like a gossip monger.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who are you hearing the rumors from? What are the sources? You sound like a gossip monger.

990s are public record. You can look up their financial issues yourself.

[Anonymous]

Name names please

[Anonymous]

OP referred to "4 to 7" LACs in some specific state. OP, name names and cite the source please. I doubt that it's you citing "look up the 990s" above.

Is your DH affiliated with education somehow so he's hearing this as somewhat more reliable scuttlebutt, or is it from newspaper articles, or do you know families in that state who are being warned on or off the record by their kids' colleges that things are dire? The source does matter. Thanks in advance for clarifying.

[Anonymous]

I'm an academic not currently at a university, but I've heard this over and over again from friends who are still in the academy.

Here's one take: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2020-04-08/coronavirus-not-all-strapped-u-s-colleges-will-survive

Also note that most people who study higher ed expect that this crisis will alter the business model in some way. Here is some speculation:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisonmccauley/2020/04/09/how-covid-19-could-shift-the-college-business-model/#3b146d8564fb

Final point: If you are follow academics on social media, there's been a TON of debate about whether universities are doing enough for their faculty, students, staff, etc. Everyone is petitioning for something - staff pay during the shutdown, more time on the tenure clock, refunds for student health fees, additional fellowships for grad students. I wonder how sustainable all this is.

[Anonymous]

MY SLAC has hit me up three times already for donations needed to combat costs of Coronavirus

[Anonymous]

Read the Chronicle of Higher Education. It has a paywall, but is available for free at local libraries, which are currently closed.

[Anonymous]

Many small, regional LACs are facing declines in enrollment and coupled with weakening endowment resources, they may be facing closure or merging with more financially sound institutions. Even before Corona, there were more than a few colleges in dire straights - so I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the “straw that breaks the camels back.” If you are interested, you can keep up with news at Inside Higher Ed and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

[Anonymous]

I was happy just yesterday to receive a credit for half of my child's room and board for the semester (from a SLAC). That seems eminently fair to me.

BUT, they did mention that some families are choosing to donate that $$ back to the school!

[Anonymous]

For those of you who have access to the Chronicle of Higher Ed...is there a list you can cut and paste, to post here? I don't mean the outdated ratings that have circulated in tears past .I mean something more current.

My kid is enrolled at a small CTCL, and this thread is making me a bit uneasy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was happy just yesterday to receive a credit for half of my child's room and board for the semester (from a SLAC). That seems eminently fair to me.

BUT, they did mention that some families are choosing to donate that $$ back to the school!

But that's the very same SLAC is that is probably trying to hit me (alum) up for money to cover that loss. Just an FYI. The pleas for donations noted five areas of "loss" for the budgeted year. I don't remember them all but it included the unexpected costs of refunded room and board; costs of refunding tuition for some lab classes; costs of keeping some students that can't return home on campus while other areas are closed; costs of providing online courses to those students who can't afford it, including laptops; costs of flying some international students home; costs of defending suits for return of room and board; labor costs (union suits by the non-contract employees); anticipated lawyer costs by those employees who are let go; the unknown of what impact this will have on the 2024 class who hasn't shown up to campus yet.

[Anonymous]

Do LACs have credit ratings like public universities? Is that public record? That's one way to tease out long-term viability.