Merger, of a sort: The Higher Learning Commission (regional accreditor for—roughly—the Midwest and southern Intermountain states) has approved a plan to end the independent status of two two-year colleges (North Central Kansas Technical College and Northwest Kansas Technical College) and have them become branch campuses of Fort Hays State University.
More details in the (IMO weirdly over-the-top positive) press release from Fort Hays State University.
City College in Florida is closing abruptly.
Not a closure, but an indication of trouble: American University fell 386 short on new frosh (1,864 enrolling) and $23 million short on revenue.
Oh, that’s not good. Of course, a lot depends on whether this is a one-year blip due to the FAFSA debacle.
Perhaps its reputation for needing significant demonstrated interest (and/or using a high demonstrated interest filter) weeded out kids who might have otherwise committed, had they been granted an acceptance.
If you read the original budget reduction details…
Faculty and staff financial packages comprise 44 percent of the FY25 budget and student financial aid will make up 23 percent of the budget.
I’m not going to research this…but maybe the reduction in headcount is a problem of applying historic yield to their accepted students and not providing the same level of financial support?
The last few decades of “You need a college degree at any price” are ending. In an ironic twist, maybe the recent focus on loan forgiveness has opened the curtain on the scale of the (loan) problem to more and more high school student and parents. 30 and 40 year olds used to carry the burden of their loans in silence… but recently there are unlimited stories of people paying student loans for decades, and suggesting their diploma hasn’t added value to their career.
For average or below average students, the idea of borrowing six figures to get a degree they don’t really want may finally be seen as a bad idea.
American also said the financial issue was due in part to a higher proportion of students than expected needing financial aid, which I thought was an intriguing detail.
While my son ultimately decided to save money and stay local, we’ve still been in touch with some of the schools that recruited him. The feedback has been very consistent: they are getting less students saying “yes” than they hoped for. A couple of schools actually said they now have more money available to recruit (which only means more than expected said no). We can debate the reason for all this but, it has been widely report that enrolment numbers were going to drop.
It’s so rare that colleges get good news on the sorts of things that we talk about here that it’s worth highlighting that SACS has reversed their earlier decision to revoke St Augustine University’s accreditation.
The place faces other headwinds, but this provides them some breathing room.
Acceptance % going down as well as yield seems to imply that kids are applying to way too many colleges. They are all scared by the low acceptance numbers so apply to more colleges, meaning more applications in the denominator. It’s a vicious cycle.
It almost seems like marketing nowadays chases applications more than it does qualified candidates at many schools.
All of the schools boasting “Our lowest % of acceptance students ever” at their visiting students day do not bother to talk about yield. Numbers can be deceiving.
For the smaller schools with higher acceptance rates, they are seeing enrollment dips. Nothing to do with yields. And part of the reason is cost. Either the kids can’t get FAFSA or just realized it is not worth it. Look at all the schools, they raise tuition and room/board BUT don’t raise merit? Eventually, it becomes unaffordable for budget conscious parents.
And yet numerous studies show that the net costs per year per family have gone DOWN, not up
Isn’t yield and enrollment the same thing? YOu were offered a spot and chose to take it or decline.
Deleted.
The reason that many schools get half or more of their freshman class from ED nowadays.
Demographic changes – within the US and among foreign student wanting to study here – pointed to this years ago. And I totally agree that rising costs have just added fuel to the fire.
I suspect that many of these shifts were foreseen by several of the private schools often discussed here as they have worked to expand their brands beyond their own backyards. The schools who couldn’t or wouldn’t do this are languishing.
It seems like the real question should be “are these closings preventing the consitituents they served from getting an education?” If the students have other options, perhaps it’s not a problem. If, otoh, we need nurses and all the nursing schools are closing, something is quite wrong.
But the costs of financing a college tuition has risen dramatically for those borrowing.
Borrowing from whom and how much?
Your statement makes no sense without the context. Someone with a secure job, high credit score and a highly appreciated home who is able to use a HELOC is facing different “costs” than someone with a middling credit score taking out a Parent Plus loan.
Here is a comparison of the Parent PLUS loan interest rates and average home equity loan rates for the past five years:
| Academic Year | Parent PLUS Loan Interest Rate | Average Home Equity Loan Interest Rate |
|---|---|---|
| 2024-2025 | 9.08% | 8.47% (fixed); 8.45% (variable) |
| 2023-2024 | 8.05% | 7.76% (fixed); 7.80% (variable) |
| 2022-2023 | 7.54% | 6.75% (fixed); 6.80% (variable) |
| 2021-2022 | 6.28% | 5.96% (fixed); 6.00% (variable) |
| 2020-2021 | 5.30% | 5.49% (fixed); 5.50% (variable) |
All loans are more expensive… no context required.
And a related issue for colleges: