I’ve been hearing that Clarkson is in a bad financial situation recently; can anyone in the know verify or add to this information?
Love everything about the school but kind of worried as a prospective student, TY.
What research have you done so far? What major are you considering? Have you visited?
Clarkson has a C- rating from Forbes 2024 study: Forbes 2024 Financial Grades - #4 by randommom1
They are eliminating humanities majors (had very low enrollment), and transferred some grad programs to SIena college.
Enrollment has been trending down since the pandemic, although not dramatically over the last few years. See the CDSs here:
https://datadigest.clarkson.edu/reports.php
So with all that said, change can be positive and it likely made sense to eliminate humanities majors and save the related expenses. It still does well in many rankings. It’s up to you and your parents to decide if the school is a fit…does it have the major you want, it is it affordable, etc.
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With respect to the elimination of majors, Clarkson does participate in a group of colleges that allows cross-registration at SUNY Potsdam (4m drive, 1.1 mile away), St. Lawrence (13m, 9.6 miles away), or SUNY Canton (17m, 11.1 miles away). Students can take two classes/year through the association, paying only their regular tuition. I don’t know if there’s a shuttle or similar, but thought that this could be useful to note.
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Clarkson is consolidating majors to focus on STEM, which is really their strength. My understanding is that enrollment in STEM is back to pre-pandemic levels but humanities enrollment are still down, hence the elimination. Moody’s has rated them as Baa2 which is still pretty good.
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I was looking at their endowments and enrollment rates with some unverified sources on Reddit, but the change makes sense with COVID. Accepted already for Mech, and just waiting for scholarship results at this point. Thanks for the insight!
Unrelated but how can I find the size of past classes per year?
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That info is in the school’s common data set (CDS) which I linked above. Section B has total undergrad enrollment, section C shows the the first year class details.
Here’s the 2023-24 CDS, the most recent: Clarkson CDS 2023-24.pdf - Google Drive
2024-25 should be out soon.
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Thank you!
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Investment grade. So they won’t have issues servicing their debt. But only two notches above junk - but even in junk most service their debt .
Wasn’t aware of Clarkson’s cuts. That would be worrisome. They’ll still be there but how will the experience be ? And dating life if the student body is predominantly male ??
I’d reach out and ask to speak to a student ambassador or two.
That they said the cuts impact less than 2% of degrees is good although how does it impact the core curriculum?
I’d just want to see if any day to day quality of life things are at risk.
Smart move by Clarkson. Will affect just 2% of the student body. Similar occurrence at nearby SUNY-Potsdam.
As the parent of a December 2024 Clarkson grad, I would say they are definitely struggling but perhaps not at risk of very near term closure. They are very generous with scholarship money to recruit students to the remote North Country and they do dip into their endowment to cover costs every year. They have made some pretty big cuts in the humanities which has reduced the elective offerings available to complete the Clarkson Common Experience requirements. Our son really enjoyed his electives, so this was a negative for him. They are looking at changing those requirements, so maybe this won’t be a big issue in the future. Enrollment does appear to be down slightly year over year, but I don’t think it is catastrophic yet. They have tightened the requirement for living on campus and are granting very few exceptions, which many people have attributed to financial issues. If you loved the school I personally don’t think it is in jeopardy in the next several years.
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What is your/your Clarkson grad’s opinion of the surrounding area (Potsdam, New York) ?
My thought is that the location is the main reason for the decreasing enrollment. Too cold, too isolated, too remote, too difficult to get to.
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He didn’t really have a problem with the cold or the isolation, though getting him there from Maryland was definitely an issue. There is actually decent bus service in town to get to grocery stores, Walmart, drug stores, etc. The proximity to the Adirondacks is a draw for many and their outdoor club is extremely active. There are several small restaurants in town, and a computer service shop, but anyone looking for the stereotypical college town atmosphere would not be happy there. Our son knew what he was getting into and is happy with his choice, but I do think the location and general depressed nature of the area affects enrollment. Potsdam is economically challenged for sure, and this is unfortunately multiplied by the financial woes of the local colleges.
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