Dean Hoke, President and CEO of the American Association of University Administrators joins me for a special episode of TWICV. Some of the questions we cover include: 1. Dean's vision for up and coming higher education leaders 2. He discusses the 'triple witch' of circumstances facing colleges. 3. I ask Dean about the differences in leadership of s…

Here are the headlines for the June 10, 2024 TWICV podcast. Columbia College (IL) in the news again with a final layoff announcement College Enrollment Up For Second Semester In A Row, Finds New Report GS: I will tell you why that is misleading. Tuition discounts at private nonprofit colleges reach new highs, study finds U Arts (Philly) another rea…

Here are the headlines from the May 20, 2024 episode + 3 colleges in the cutbacks, layoffs, and closure list + 3 Missouri privates don’t respond well to being on a ‘watch list’ + The abrupt closure of Wells College. Bad for the industry. . . + Student loan interest rates go up – a lot on July 1st. + NY rep introduces bill to establish rules for a c…

A look at St. Cloud State’s plan to cut 46 degrees i-dotters and t-crossers High Schools are bracing for widespread teacher layoffs. Here’s why Spin. Spin. Spin. At Illinois Tech STL PD and college closures in its region Cleveland .com: Editor: Buffoonery, incompetence and lies “Our job, though, is to call them out. So, we do.” Show note links: ‘A …

On a busy closing and cutback week, my news and commentary this week includes: Keystone College (PA) in trouble Alverno College (WI) cutsback Wells closes. Sends students to a college that is all financially weak. Northland College continues to string along its faculty, staff, students, and community Talk of a catastrophic Fall continues 200 NCAA D…

These are the news and commentary headlines for April 29, 2024 · Northland College (WI) just can’t find anyone to turn of the light switch. · A really good student-written article about Drake U’s financial challenges · Dubuque named and Spalding searching for new presidents. We will go to the data for both. · Jon Marcus at Hechinger had one of his …

In this special edition of 'This Week in College Viability' we hear from an alum of a college that is clearly in significant financial trouble. Jeremy Lakosh is a 2005 graduate of Eureka College (IL). He is the CEO of a retirement community in Eureka and has spent 6-years on the Eureka Alumni Board - and led the group for 2 years. Mr. Lakosh's stor…

The April 22nd episode includes these news stories and commentary HLC says: ‘We are not hospice’ What happens to faculty, staff, students and the community when a college closes The Boston Globe must be reading and listening to my content. They talk about the right way to close a college. Webster University auditors have concerns about the universi…

This week top stories include: · Why are financial statement auditors not giving us a heads-up on trouble colleges? I will share the results of my research on recently closed colleges and what is NOT in their audited financial statements · Is it a college or is it a tuition collection agency. Keystone College is our case study. · Delusion from NDC …

Nobody can articulate the trials and tribulations of a closing college better than Jonathon Nichols. His 2022 book, 'Requiem for a College' details both the emotional trauma he and his St. Joseph College (IN) faced as the college moved from fear of closing -- to actual closure a few months later. His book also describes the research Jon did on the …

In this week's episode, here are some of the news and commentaries. Northland College is going to hold more bake sales (Sarcasm alert) Mike Rowe ( of Dirty Jobs) has a spot on todays podcast. USDA loans are not all they are cracked up to be. The College Counterpoint podcast The president of a closing college talks about closures – en masse. Purchas…

There is nothing like the voice of experience. Jon Nichols experienced a private college closure in 2017 at St. Joseph's (IN). Mr. Nichols shares similarities and differences from the private college clousure he experience with what he knows about the recent closure of Fontbonne University in St. Louis His book, 'Requiem for a College' describes th…

This Week in College Viability for April 1, 2024 1. Layoffs Cutbacks and Closures 2. Faculty power under pressure in KY 3. St. Martin’s WA on the watch 4. Bluffton / U Findlay merger: not enough 5. West Conn. U: Pom Poms from the president 6. Lesley U faculty is really good at no-confidence votes – Now if they could only graduate more than 50% of t…

Debbie Kepple-Mamros is my guest for this special episode of This Week in College Viability. Debbie leads the institutional research function for the Des Moines (IA) Area Community College system. She provides guidance on the IR function, adult markets, 'data days' staff training, the nuances about counting students, and much more.…

Dr. Paula Langteau was president at Presentation College. She developed critical processes for assessing an institution's financial viability and implementing key protocols to close an institution with dignity and compassion. The Higher Learning Commission heralded that work as the most comprehensive in assisting in the transition of students, facu…

Here are the headline stories for the March 25, 2024 episode of 'This Week in College Viability'. MU Is our cutback college this week – but in a different business sense. Is Hampshire College really on its way back? Columbia College in Chicago is searching for couch money to survive Bluffton U and U of Findlay merger: Is two enough? BSC is back in …

Here are some of the news and commentary for March 18, 2024 Carbon Monoxide detectors turned off at Evergreen State College NDC student impact story. Public college consolidation continues to jump into HE news cycles. Dept of Ed wants pathetic minimum graduation thresholds FAFSA fiasco update EY Parthenon dances around the details on high risk coll…

Here are some of the stories for the March 11th 'This Week in College Viability podcast. Student impact story on NDC closure Stories from Fitch & Bloomberg on HE Mississippi joins the merger/consolidation movement U Virginia: 1000 undergrads to pay the base salaries of DEI staff? Basketball team without a college Show notes and links: St. Norbert C…

Where are we headed this week? Well, we'll start off with another unsurprising college closure announcement this past week. Get ready for some surprising ones in the next two months as the college year winds down. There was an interesting presidential departure from a struggling Illinois public college. 'Delusional' is this week's theme for both fa…

Links to this week's stories. Cutbacks & Layoffs at Wright State and U Toledo IHE must be following me. Their story last week about recent cutbacks and layoffs mimics the stories I have shared here over the past month or so. Chicken and College: Interesting partnership A double dip enrollment recession? (Newsletter, no URL) Why Is the College-Compl…

Here are the stories and commentary in the February 19 TWICV Get your 2024 Private College Viability App here. Select from a version for executives, one for faculty & staff, and one for students and families. Special promotions are now available for each. Do you want to sit in on one of my free webinars on how to use the College Viability Apps? Cli…

Raven Eye Consulting helps Higher Education clients accelerate their path to enrollment and retention results. They work with Colleges and Universities to improve enrollment and retention functional processes, utilize data for continuous improvement, deploy technology to achieve scale, and develop a responsive and effective enrollment and retention…

This Week in College Viability for February 12, 2024 Valentine’s day is this week. Throw a little love to Cabrini college and NOT-so-much to BSC and colleges who believe a snippet of data is a good thing. Here are some of the news stories and commentaries that follow. Colleges turn to older students to stem enrollment crisis Birmingham-Southern cou…

This week's podcast episode has news and commentary on: Top heavy Cornell The FAFSA delay Spin. Spin. Spin. This time I will drill through the laughable spin that SIU Carbondale is putting on its Spring 2024 enrollment. Spin. Spin. Spin. Take 2: Sarasota Spring (NY) NOTE: I will 'go to the data' for both. UConn has good basketball programs, but ser…

Welcome to a special episode of This Week in College Viability. We're going to be talking with a couple of gentlemen who lead the Transformation Collaborative. Wallace Pond and Anthony (Tony) Bieda are my guests. Their organization is rethinking the whole consultancy model itself, plus rethinking the how we bring value in the higher education space…

Larenda Mielke Senior Vice President, Higher Education at Kaufman Hall She has extensive leadership experience in higher education in the areas of strategy, curriculum and program development, accreditation, strategy execution, and financial modeling. She has consulted with multiple universities across the world. She posts articles on higher educat…

For the week of January 29, 2024: More officials leave Fontbonne and Webster Universities amid enrollment troubles College enrollment picks up for the first time in over a decade — but student loan debt is still a major sticking point – NBC New York Three More Major Universities Reveal Plans For Budget Cuts -- Michael T. Nietzel Flagships Are Enrol…

Here is the news and commentary we have for the January 22, 2024 episode of 'This Week in College Viability'. 1. Cutbacks and layoffs 2. Birmingham southern makes the WSJ 3. Yet more faculty no-confidence votes 4. Bonds and higher education 5. Goddard College to become online only 6. And much moreBy Gary Stocker

What impact do bonds have on colleges? Will bonds be a factor in college closures? Mergers and consolidations? Do rating services like S&P and Moody's impact most colleges? These and other questions are addressed when Gary Stocker and Ann Rutledge discuss in this reverse podcast interview on TWICV. Bond holders view colleges as investments that are…

It is a really cold week across these United States, and the news from higher education is doing nothing to warm us up. Welcome. I am gs. TWICV for January 15 2024 A lot of community colleges news this week A new college closures announced in PA. More doom and gloom enrollment predictions Vandy is allegedly boss and manager heavy Yet another short-…

It’s a new year full of similar stories from 2023. I am not going to say 2024 will be exciting. That is trite. I will say that the college news and commentary I provide at TWICV will continue to try and earn your support for allowing me to be your informal fiduciary – going above and beyond the call to look after your best interests. You might thin…

Many thanks to the increasing number of folks listening to and downloading the podcast. I am grateful. Here are the stories and commentary for the final 2023 'This Week in College Viability (TWICV)' podcast. 1. Public flagships are both booming and flailing 2. Buch of stuff on more small college struggles 3. MSU BOT pledges to not interfere with ne…

This Week In College Viability (TWICV) where we look out for the best interests of faculty, staff, students, their families and others in higher education. The December 18th podcast includes: More cutback and layoffs, When a college abruptly closes, what happens to its students? IHE: Why Higher Ed Needs to Be Disrupted Brian Rosenberg: Whatever it …

Dr. Brian Rosenberg is my guest today. His recent book: Whatever it is, I don’t like it, is fascinating in many ways. The 7 chapters are exquisitely balanced and logical as they step the reader through where HE has been, where it needs to go, and how to get there. The industry is changing. Sticking ones head in the proverbial sand and hoping for th…

It is 2 weeks before Christmas and there is no change in the news coming out of higher education. The news continues to be less than merry and bright for many, many colleges in our country. The December 11, 2023 podcast includes much on The College of St. Rose (Albany NY) Here is why: It is the triad of closures. First, the sudden closure. Second, …

Dr. Chuck Ambrose, co-author with Michael Nietzel of 'Colleges on the Brink" is a formidable college leader. He shares his perspective on decades in higher education to characterize the current state of higher education and to detail the work he and Mr. Nietzel did in providing substantive guidance to college leaders facing the financial, enrollmen…

In this week's episode of This Week, the College of St. Rose - some extensive coverage of the closure and the reactions associated with that. Our regular cutbacks and layoffs list. Bacone College graduates no one and is on the auction block for failing to pay a vendor. We'll briefly talk about that. Birmingham Southern College gets $7.5 million in …

Jon Nichols, author of 'Requiem for a College' (2022) joins me in this first special This Week in College Viability (TWICV) podcast - The Closing of a College - The College of St. Rose (NY) Jon's experience in living through a college closure at St. Joseph's (IN) in 2017 and in analyzing what went wrong at the college provides the basis for this ep…

This week we have still more cutback and layoff announcements. 2 interesting cutback and layoff stories from Mark Oprea at the Cleveland Scene Tuition deals that won’t work. Forbes Derek Newton and I agree to disagree on the state of higher education. MN and ND dive to the bottom of the pit to get students to enroll in their states I talk about tal…

Today’s podcast includes: does a high tuition price indicate a high quality college?, ugly enrollment increase announcements, Lyon College (AR) wants to build a vet school and dental school, Fitch ratings continues to frown on higher education finances, a story out of Pittsburgh, and 2 more colleges try sports as a financial lifeline. Here is the l…

An inside look at how I put a podcast together. . . . . . . Special Edition Podcast of TWICV. This Small College Was Out of Options. Will Its Creditors Give It a Break? Re: Lake Erie College in Ohio By David Jesse and Dan Bauman NOVEMBER 13, 2023 https://www.chronicle.com/article/this-small-college-was-out-of-options-will-its-creditors-give-it-a-br…

We talk about the deplorable state of graduation rates in American Colleges. My friend, Kate Colbert offers these analogies: "Buy this car. There's a 50% chance it won't even run 4 years from now." "Just $1,100 for the new iPhone. No warranty. If it arrives dysfunctional, try rebooting it for 4 years and then we'll tell you we're sorry it didn't wo…

By Gary Stocker

By Gary Stocker

November 6 TWICV Gary Stocker - your host and college quality assurance coach. Providing a perspective on the financial health and viability of colleges in the U.S. ---- Respectfully asking to be your College Fiduciary. Stories: (Links below.) Even private colleges can get ratings from Fitch ratings, Too many computer science majors, where is tuiti…

This is a special episode today our guest is Dr. James Brasfield a retired faculty and retired community leader in the St. Louis region. Jim has been involved with Webster University in any number of roles over the past few decades. His perspective on Webster and all of their challenges - from rent payment to leadership compensation to board truste…

I spend a lot of time espousing the weaknesses of colleges and justifiably so. But today I wanna share something I published about a year ago. It is my College Viability Manifesto. From my mind, the value of a college education is without any question desirable. Is it always ideal? Is it always perfect? No, but that's not the question. It is desira…

This is a two-fer day. My podcast software ate my recording from October 23rd. So I have already re-done that one. Whether the error was user-related or not remains an unanswered question. I like the podcast software, so I am going to take the blame for this one. We have a couple of stories from Kelly Meyerhofer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. S…

On our list of colleges to cover today is: Lesley University, Virginia universities, Clarkson University, student reactions to closing of UWM Washington County, Avilla, IL Wesleyan, and Birmingham Southern is mad because the state treasurer won’t let them borrow money. Show Notes and Links: Lesley University students, professors protest mass layoff…

Elliot Felix founded and leads brightspot a strategy consultancy on a mission to transform the higher education experience and to increase student success. His book How to Get the Most Out of College was published in January 2022 and provides 127 evidence-based tips for success in college and beyond. It received a blue star from Kirkus Reviews, cal…