Birmingham Southern closing
- Thread starter Dogpatrol
- Start date
Yes they are. There are a number of private liberal arts schools likely to be in trouble. Demographics are going to catch up with a lot of small unis.
With a name like that, one would think Vanderbilt would scoop up the assets to keep that bástard Gould from getting it for the Erie Railway.
Finally we have someone to blame.
I thought this was about a railroad
Sad situation for them.
Their troubles began about 20 years ago. Expansion efforts leading to increased debt, losing $25 million in endowment initially in ‘09, and a budget snafu a year led to them having to cut majors and faculty and then dig into their endowment even more.
We all know about the issues with the W, but what private universities in Mississippi are most at risk of closure? Blue Mountain?
Blue Mountain (619 students) and Rust (768). Rural location is hurting them both.
Tougaloo (563 students) and Millsaps have a healthy endowment, although Millsaps is down to around 600 students which is concerning. They just hired a new president who was the Chief of Staff at Georgia Tech.
Belhaven (1,632 students) and MC (2,244) are doing fine and excelling in some areas. William Carey (1,960) has improved a lot in the past decade.
For comparison, MUW has 1,834 students and Valley has 1,316.
They just need to change their name, attendance will flourish and all will be well. It's working out so well in Columbus @ The W, or uuh Mississippi Brightwell, or uuh Mississippi Wynbridge, or uuh Mississippi Welbright, oh never mind........
I understand what MC offers to parents/students who want a more sheltered/christian environment. I think William Carey has been smart with focusing on professional degrees that allow them to charge a lot of money while still being a decent to great investment for the students.
I don't understand what Belhaven, Millsaps, MUW, etc. offer other than a particular location. I'm sure they are perfectly nice and there are people that will love them, it just doesn't seem like the market would be that big/good. Certainly there should be a market for a decent college in Jackson and Belhaven and Millsaps fill that niche. I'm just not sure there is enough demand for that that two of them make sense and of course with the direction Jackson is moving in, I'm not sure how long those campuses will remain safe. You may see MC being the "Jackson" college although it's not going to be easy to serve that market and also be more than nominally christian.
Millsaps has fencing and campus security guard houses. My understanding you have to check in at the campus security guard house to get on campus. Could be wrong though.
I suspect if the Belhaven neighborhood goes down, you'll see them erect some fencing and more security. Belhaven offers a lot of what MC offers in the Christian environment from the Presbyterian viewpoint instead of the Baptist. My understanding is that Belhaven gets a lot of Presbyterian missionary and ministers kids as well as kids who just want to work in the church. You also have the art programs(specifically the dance program) at Belhaven that draws students from around the country.
My caveat is all of that could've changed since I worked in higher ed in MS since I haven't lived or worked in MS since 2010.
Unless William Carey has just been loading up on debt or doing something else unsustainable to get students, it looks like the best run college in Mississippi. I know MSU and Ole miss can't just go add a pharmacy school or DO school, but it makes you wonder what MSU or Ole Miss could do if they were allowed to just get competent leadership and let them work without the political constraints that come from the IHL.
There are different ways of counting: Physical number of people and FTE (full time equivalency) enrollment (number of total credit hours taken by everyone divided by the minimum amount of credit hours to be a full-time student) are two of the more common methods.
It’s not uncommon for different numbers to circulate even if it’s during the same semester or academic year.
Whoa, Belhaven being bigger than Millsaps is a change from my time living and working in Jackson 25 years ago.
Millsaps’ rep is being the best academic private college in Mississippi.
State, Southern, & Ole Miss now have honors colleges and since they’re cheaper to attend they attract a lot of brighter students— some of whom would have gone to Millsaps.
Fair enough. What is the reason for Belhaven's growth in the same time period?
I ask because I did work for both schools in the late 90s and Millsaps always seemed like the bigger, better school. It did seem like Belhaven was starting to spend money on facilities, however.
Belhaven invested in online education and campus expansion out of state to such places as Houston, Orlando, and Atlanta— just to name a few cities.
True. Belhaven has the best online offerings of any college in the state. They invested early in that. They also took their athletic programs to D3 from the NAIA. They are becoming a good option for D3 athletes (second tier, academically minded kids). Softball team is one of best in the nation and Football made the NCAA Playoffs. Both basketball teams lost their conference title games so they were close to dancing.
Millsaps is down to about 600 students and 400 of them are athletes. The campus culture is not good from what I hear and far away from what we all remember about Millsaps being (elite academics). Millsaps does not have any high demand degrees other than business. No nursing, STEM, and only one master's degree.
Mississippi College is still getting most of the Baptist/Christian/MAIS crowd. They got a big gift last year that is allowing them to give full tuition scholarships to any Mississippi resident. That is going to grow their student population but they still have a hard time with the experience. They went back to D2 a few years ago and they are a punching bag for the Gulf South Conference (Delta State, Valdosta, West Alabama, etc.)
William Carey's resurgence is amazing. They were close to closing in the late 90s and now they are thriving. They added a Pharmacy school and have the states only DO program. That gives them two high demand programs that students pay full dollar for. Their president will be picked off by a big time school soon. Still NAIA in athletics but adding new sports every year.
The reality of higher education in the United States is that it is over-saturated. The flagships and the land-grants in most states will certainly survive, as they are "too big to fail." Major privates will also survive.
Like many things, the pandemic has exposed the major flaws with the business of higher education. That is to say, those universities that weren't properly managed (fiscally or otherwise), or those that took miscalculated risks will likely fail and rightfully so. Others have grown to the point of being "over their skis"....like West Virginia and Arizona.
The ivory tower has been filled with a self perception of being untouchable and ignored business fundamentals that many of you on this board are keenly aware (e.g. having a strong competitive advantage). Quite frankly, higher education is in dire need of closures and consolidations across the country. Some universities failed to recognize that education turned into big business. And Ph.D.'s -- generally speaking -- make s****y CEOs. Furthermore, many have failed to maintain, enhance, and consistently stay true to their brand and their base.
Most importantly, college athletics is and will continue to be a huge factor in marketing, positioning, and branding a university. While we argue about logos and such on this board, the reality is that "brand" is more than a logo (regardless of how weak it is or how frequently it changes -- "hey" to the MSU administration). Brand is about identity, culture, and purpose. It is unique in nature and is reflective of its core and recognizable to its target markets. And most importantly, it is genuine and consistent in messaging.
That said, being a university president in today's climate is a thankless job and one I'd never take without a hefty golden parachute.
Like many things, the pandemic has exposed the major flaws with the business of higher education. That is to say, those universities that weren't properly managed (fiscally or otherwise), or those that took miscalculated risks will likely fail and rightfully so. Others have grown to the point of being "over their skis"....like West Virginia and Arizona.
The ivory tower has been filled with a self perception of being untouchable and ignored business fundamentals that many of you on this board are keenly aware (e.g. having a strong competitive advantage). Quite frankly, higher education is in dire need of closures and consolidations across the country. Some universities failed to recognize that education turned into big business. And Ph.D.'s -- generally speaking -- make s****y CEOs. Furthermore, many have failed to maintain, enhance, and consistently stay true to their brand and their base.
Most importantly, college athletics is and will continue to be a huge factor in marketing, positioning, and branding a university. While we argue about logos and such on this board, the reality is that "brand" is more than a logo (regardless of how weak it is or how frequently it changes -- "hey" to the MSU administration). Brand is about identity, culture, and purpose. It is unique in nature and is reflective of its core and recognizable to its target markets. And most importantly, it is genuine and consistent in messaging.
That said, being a university president in today's climate is a thankless job and one I'd never take without a hefty golden parachute.
The thing about Blue Moutain is that it seems to be pretty much the same thing it has always been. It seems to me that they have never tried to be something they are not. Maybe that is a better model.
From my house in Flowood, Belhaven seems to be doing well, while 1/2 mile away Millsaps is struggling mightily. Is the tuition that much more at Millsaps?
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