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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's because liberal arts degrees are not as popular anymore.  The market has shifted. [/quote]

I don’t think that’s the case.  I think it’s simply that the cost of higher education has risen way beyond the rise in the cost of living.  It’s simply unaffordable now, regardless of major.[/quote]

[b]This is why merit aid has become increasingly important at liberal arts schools[/b].

My kids are 5 years apart — my younger currently a senior in HS. Comparing their respective classmates (and parents of classmates), I’ve observed a huge shift in attitudes about “second tier” LACs. Five years ago very few families we knew were discussing schools like Denison, St. Olaf, etc. It is completely different this time around. It’s been really fascinating (and gratifying) to see that change.[/quote]

But unless these schools have a huge endowment for their size, this becomes a death spiral. This article about Oberlin, is from five years ago, & they were very frank about their money issues.  They can't raise tuition, and in fact, are having to offer increased merit aid to attract students, and it's putting them further and further into the hole. Since this article was printed, they made the decision to offer $10k to every student, which means they have effectively reduced their tuition to compete.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/04/18/amid-budget-deficits-and-unfavorable-demographics-oberlin-pushes-do-more-less#:~:text=The%20college%20has%20said%20that,83%20percent%20of%20operating%20revenue.

Ambar, along with Chris Canavan, Oberlin’s board chair, and Chesley Maddox-Dorsey, the vice chair, said the college last year raised enrollment. "But we’ve also had to contribute more financial aid, so the net revenue gain from improved enrollment has been modest. In other words, we are exhausting our pricing power," they wrote.

For new students, fall 2019 tuition and fees, along with room and board, are expected to be $73,694.

Raising tuition, they said, "only increases the demand for financial aid. It also adds to the financial strains on our students and their families, making it harder for us to keep them at Oberlin from the day they matriculate to the day they graduate. This weighs heavily on Oberlin’s finances."

The college has said that if it doesn’t trim expenses, Oberlin’s deficit could reach $162 million within a decade. It relies on net student income for 83 percent of operating revenue.

n its most recent audited financial statement, Oberlin said 97 employees took voluntary buyouts in 2016, with another 17 in 2018. It reported $184 million of outstanding bonded debt.

With an $887.4 million endowment last year, 186-year-old Oberlin is wealthier than most small private institutions, but far behind its wealthier peers -- colleges like Amherst, Swarthmore and Wellesley all reported endowments at or near $2 billion. For the past few years, Oberlin has drawn about 5 percent of its endowment for operating expenses, a standard distribution. Last year, that amounted to about $44.1 million.

In a widely circulated October 2017 letter, Canavan, the board chair, said a group of trustees examining the college’s finances concluded that “we lean too heavily on cash from generosity (past and present gifts, and borrowing against future gifts) and not enough on cash from operations (tuition, room and board).”

He said Oberlin has many generous donors. “But they’re not generous enough to insulate us from the ups and downs of enrollment and retention, or from the broader socioeconomic trends that make it harder for families to afford Oberlin. The conclusion may seem self-evident, but it’s important nevertheless: we can’t stop appealing to generous donors, we need to find ways to boost our operating revenues and we have to reduce our cash needs where possible.”[/quote]

Oberlin's fine at this point.[/quote]

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