Thanks everyone.

Anonymous wrote:I looked at the ratings and Northwestern has a negative outlook!? Did I read that correctly?

Yes.

I found a memo posted on my son’s college’s website from the college VP for Finance providing an update of operating costs due to the pandemic. It was pretty transparent and the net loss for this LAC is $2M through the current FY which ends in July.

OP may be able to find something similar. Or their kid could ask a professor they are close to what they have heard, check for minutes of the college’s Board meetings, and even the student newspaper, which is probably still being published.

I looked at the ratings and Northwestern has a negative outlook!? Did I read that correctly?

Anonymous wrote:to find out how desperate my kid's SLAC is, financially. I just assume from all of the recent coverage that they are hurting. It seems rude though to call and ask. Plus, most of these schools seem to hold things close to the vest until they close.

I know a few years ago, they had a C financial rating. Any ideas how to proceed (or do we just wait for it all to play out...like so much of this pandemic)? My DC is a 2nd year.

This might be helpful. Go to the the comments at the end. Looks like there’s a link to the ratings. https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/05/01/sp-slashes-outlook-127-colleges

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Assume they are hurting. Vassar, which has a large endowment, is cutting faculty pay and furloughing staff.

Link re: Vassar cuts, if possible? Thank you.

It's info from someone I know who is a faculty member there. Doesn't look like it's been publicized (yet). The faculty just found out toward the end of last week. There is general consensus that if Vassar is having to do this, then a lot of schools probably will be. Morale is pretty low in academia.

$100 million is a tiny endowment for a private school. That being said, if your DC has liked it so far, no reason to bail now. If it ever closes, DC can transfer.

Anonymous wrote:Assume they are hurting. Vassar, which has a large endowment, is cutting faculty pay and furloughing staff.

Link re: Vassar cuts, if possible? Thank you.

Keep in mind that a lot of these struggling schools give massive merit aid, making it really hard to turn them down (especially if they end up as the cheapest option)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dickinson?

Dickinson has an endowment of like $350 million per Covid. If the school only had $100 million pre Covid it probably isn’t a school you’d know about (Although it may be great)

Occidental's Moody rating was downgraded to negative last December.

Anonymous wrote:Dickinson?

Dickinson has an endowment of like $350 million per Covid. If the school only had $100 million pre Covid it probably isn’t a school you’d know about (Although it may be great)