Why More And More Colleges Are Closing Down Across The U.S.

The video, 16:35, is very informative. Can these businesses, schools, pivot instead of closing?

“About 95% of U.S. colleges rely on tuition, according to Franek, meaning they rely on money from students to operate. Dwindling enrollment numbers mean less money, fewer student offerings and eventually a shuttered institution.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/17/why-more-and-more-colleges-are-closing-down-across-the-us.html

 

Why won't they close when the cost is ridiculous?!



Rich country problem! Haha Let me focus on the developing world.

 

OK - if they say so. But it HAS to be run in a business-like way or it founders, like the Titanic... or maybe like these top 10 Crypto failures of 2022. Bad year for crypto. 2023 looks like a bad year for colleges. Possibly the same reason for both. Not run in a business-like manner.

https://fintechnews.sg/67859/crypto/top-10-biggest-crypto-failures-of-2022/

 

Couple the lack of business acumen with the declining pool of potential students - and you have a too-handy recipe for school closures.

The pool of 18-year-olds has been shrinking fow quite a while. Plus, most people these days know about the BIG LIE. A degree -- in anything - is NOT an assurance of career security and advancement forever after. (Was it ever?) Degree programs simply can't be sold on that basis any more. Add in these cost factors: The high cost of attendance - and tremendous opportunity cost in lost earnings.

Young people feel they should get something tangible - like a pile of money - for four years of their young lives. They can't get those years back - ever. Plus, they have to spend (or borrow) a pile of money, instead of saving it. Perhaps this is a natural thinning of the herd, for colleges. Reminds me of the slightly macabre joke about a College President who won over $100 million in a Powerball jackpot.

Interviewer: Well, Dr. S=====, now that you've won this money, do you have any plans for it?
College President: "Oh yes. I've been President of this college for nearly twenty years, taught here before that. I love this school and I figure I'll just keep working here until all the money is gone."

No happy ending.

 

There isn't a competing product.

Is the market shrinking?

Or, is the market saturated and they're in a zero-sum competition?

 

(1) Right. No competing product - so the makers have to upgrade existing models and create new variants -- not unlike cars, phones etc. I'm not sure this is being handled well, in a lot of cases. And as I said, the BIG LIE has been pretty well debunked. This doesn't help the numbers, for the schools.

(2) One segment has shrunk - young people of what has been the traditional college-entry age - 18 or so. It has been replaced, in some fashion, by the many distance students of all ages. The flow of money from them is slower; they're p/t so mostly don't shell out a full year's tuition in one whack. Conversely, it doesn't (or shouldn't) cost the same $ per student to give them the product (education) - economies of scale.

(3) I'm tempted to say yes - the market's saturated. But every time I've said that -- it wasn't. So --- I won't.

This is an academic version of "The Survivor" TV show. Except there will be multiple survivors. Good luck to all contestants. Try not to get eaten.

 

True - and Universities are using these fields in their own competition. For instance, you graduate with a WGU IT degree and you've earned a fistful (about 7, IIRC) of the most valuable IT certifications along the way.

And kudos go to a University that concentrates on Arts programs - Harrison Middleton, for creative use of CEU's instead of credits. They offer a non-degree University Diploma, in which CEUs, rather than academic semester-hour credits are awarded. HMU has full IACET approval for the CEUs, in addition to their DEAC National Accreditation.

Wow! At HMU I can get CEUs for Latin courses! I might just do that! This is my kind of competition!

 

Because this country lacks a strong qualifications framework, whether or not university degrees have competition is a truly hit-and-miss affair.

 

Do you think that lack will change in the foreseeable, Rich? What would it take to get it done?

 

I don't. We have a laissez-faire attitude towards government in the U.S. We're suspicious even when we're at our best. It would require a partnership between industry, tertiary institutions, and the government. Heck, we have a huge portion of our population more than happy to abolish the Department of Education, not give it more to do.

What surprises me is that industry isn't demanding it and driving it. I suspect this is because of the demands of short-term profits in the stock market. A NQF would require long-range thinking and investments. No, industry is good at opportunism when it comes to government largesse--hiring college graduates whose education was heavily subsidized or military veterans whose experience and training was also paid by the government. But invest in it themselves? It doesn't seem likely. But if I was the Secretary of Education, it would be my highest priority. Monday morning, 8am, Day 1.

 

Thanks, Steve. I'm honoured. I'm tempted to say it's because I'm a fascinating guy, but we all know that's BS. What I can truly say is that studying fashion has strongly and consistently exercised my mind to think in more imaginative ways - even on topics unrelated to the "schmatta trade." Jazz has helped too, in the same way - as have new-found friends - one in Europe and two from Africa.

At the start, I wanted to learn about fashion to improve my story-writing. I think it has, but it's given me a whole lot more than that.