Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 28, 2020 20:02:00 GMT -5
I didn't want to put this in the Notre Dame de Namur thread. I heard a rumor MacMurray College in IL was closing. This isn't just about volleyball. Coronavirus is going to push schools that were already on the edge over with no hope of return. Are there other smaller schools in too deep to recover?
|
|
|
|
Post by holidayhusker on Mar 28, 2020 20:04:45 GMT -5
I am more concerned about businesses, especially small business. If this continues for another month which is likely, it will be devastating. No businesses, no employees.
|
|
|
|
Post by volleyloa on Mar 28, 2020 21:07:48 GMT -5
I didn't want to put this in the Notre Dame de Namur thread. I heard a rumor MacMurray College in IL was closing. This isn't just about volleyball. Coronavirus is going to push schools that were already on the edge over with no hope of return. Are there other smaller schools in too deep to recover? After years of financial struggles, MacMurray College will close its doors at the end of the spring semester, the college announced Friday. Charles O’Connell, chairman of MacMurray’s board of trustees, said there simply was no viable financial path forward for the four-year liberal arts college, citing declining enrollments, rising competitive costs, and an insufficient endowment as major factors in the decision. “The board spent more than a year exploring potential new sources for capital, but we were unable to solve the serious financial difficulties facing us,” O’Connell said. “We deeply regret the decision and are sorry for the disruption and disappointment it will have for everyone in the Mac family.” The college was founded in 1846 by Methodist clergy as the Illinois Conference Female Academy. It is one of the oldest colleges originally for women in the United States and one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in Illinois. The name was changed in 1899 to Illinois Woman’s College. In 1913, the college was granted accreditation. The name was changed again in 1930 to MacMurray College for Women. Foreseeing the coming baby boom, the college’s board of trustees established MacMurray College for Men in 1955. The men’s and women’s colleges merged in 1969. Source: www.sj-r.com/news/20200327/macmurray-college-to-close-after-174-years |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 29, 2020 15:25:06 GMT -5
I am more concerned about businesses, especially small business. If this continues for another month which is likely, it will be devastating. No businesses, no employees. I was getting to that. If parents don't keep their jobs, how do their kids pay for school? Do they even go back? Are we about to see a mass exodus of college students flooding to commuter and JUCO schools? |
|
|
|
Post by ned3vball on Mar 29, 2020 16:04:01 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Mar 29, 2020 17:02:10 GMT -5
Some would say this is a good thing. I'm not sure I would go that far, but while I'm a big believer in education in general, I think the US is likely oversupplied with small liberal arts colleges.
|
|
|
|
Post by Not Me on Mar 29, 2020 17:15:05 GMT -5
Some would say this is a good thing. I'm not sure I would go that far, but while I'm a big believer in education in general, I think the US is likely oversupplied with small liberal arts colleges. Small, private, overpriced, liberal arts colleges. |
|
|
|
Post by ned3vball on Mar 29, 2020 18:15:06 GMT -5
But on the plus side, a fair number of people will be looking for small schools, in small towns, to stay away from Enormous State University.
|
|
|
|
Post by hammer on Mar 29, 2020 18:53:17 GMT -5
Some would say this is a good thing. I'm not sure I would go that far, but while I'm a big believer in education in general, I think the US is likely oversupplied with small liberal arts colleges. Small, private, overpriced, liberal arts colleges. And easy money has skewed demand. When you look at some of the distance learning videos, e.g., Khan Academy, and think back to that bad algebra teacher you had in high school, it hits you that not only can it be better, but it is more convenient and it provides economy of scale. |
|
|
|
Post by volleydadtx on Mar 29, 2020 19:46:53 GMT -5
I would think Sweet Briar might be in jeopardy but I hope not. Certainly a lot of schools - public and private - are nervous.
|
|
|
|
Post by pdxcardfan on Mar 29, 2020 20:13:05 GMT -5
Some would say this is a good thing. I'm not sure I would go that far, but while I'm a big believer in education in general, I think the US is likely oversupplied with small liberal arts colleges. Small, private, overpriced, liberal arts colleges. I attended one of these, but I don't think it was overpriced badly back then. When I graduated I remember thinking I could have purchased a really nice car for what those four years cost but thought the trade-off was worth it. Today, one year costs as much as a really nice, new car and there's no way I would recommend that school to someone who didn't have a full-ride scholarship.
I ended up on faculty at that school for thirteen years. I can't say I left on principal, but I was appalled by how tuition rates grew at, what, double (?) the inflation rate. I remember faculty compensation committees that were demanding annual salary increases of 20% or more so that our pay structure would be comparable to other colleges. Government grants and student loans—this was in California and as I recall they were pretty generous—gave no incentives to being thrifty. It was the weird cycle of the government saying, "Let's help students pay for school," and the school saying, "Oh, the government is footing so much of the bill, we can raise our tuition." Over time I began having qualms over rather significant retirement contributions which were good for me being paid for by unforgivable student loans which were bad for students and their families.
Interesting to see how my perspective has changed now that I'm no longer working there.
|
|
|
|
Post by BuckysHeat on Mar 29, 2020 22:12:57 GMT -5
The first time I gave secondary ed a shot I enrolled at an electronics school. Cost per semester was $8,000, I stayed for one but didn't have a great feeling about it that first semester. I left early in the second when I had to correct our math teacher daily among other issues. This was back in the very early 90's before education costs became what they are now.
They either went out of business or were absorbed by a chain several years later. Sometimes it is not a terrible thing if some of these schools fold.
|
|
|
|
Post by joetrinsey on Mar 30, 2020 8:58:30 GMT -5
Some would say this is a good thing. I'm not sure I would go that far, but while I'm a big believer in education in general, I think the US is likely oversupplied with small liberal arts colleges.
I think there's also a decent argument that small liberal arts colleges are much better positioned to survive the eventual popping of the higher ed bubble. Which, as somebody who benefits from the massively overinflated NCAA sports-industrial-complex... I hope doesn't happen for a while!
A significant amount of STEM could be eliminated from higher ed with little-to-no effect on our work force. You're an engineer correct? Replace your 4 years of paid undergrad with an unpaid internship and on the job training and would you be more prepared or less prepared for an engineering job at the age of 22? Imagine a scenario (which might not be hard to do right now) in which we needed to double our healthcare workforce. We'd quickly realize (as armies have forever) that a short, intense training camp followed by on the job training with a steady escalation in responsibility can train some healthcare providers in a far shorter time than our current higher ed system.
Look at what higher ed looked like in 1900, it was a lot closer to "liberal arts education for the wealthy," than the "job training for STEM fields," that is often assumed is the correct stance for higher ed.
EDIT: I'll also add, that, in order to survive, they'll have to look quite a bit different than they do now and many will fold, because they won't be prepared to make that transition.
|
|
|
|
Post by kimdc on Mar 30, 2020 10:10:40 GMT -5
Some would say this is a good thing. I'm not sure I would go that far, but while I'm a big believer in education in general, I think the US is likely oversupplied with small liberal arts colleges. Small, private, overpriced, liberal arts colleges. I used to work at a small, overpriced liberal arts college in the Bay Area. It had been struggling financially for years, but kept funding sports. They were the last Non-DI football program in the area, in fact. The alums pitched a fit when football was finally stopped in 2015, but they weren't coming up with the huge price tag to fund travel, insurance, guarantees, etc. This isn't new. It isn't related to COVID-19. The Bay Area, especially, has what seems like thousands of these schools. They are all struggling financially and have been forever, it seems. At the very least, these schools need to stop pouring money into sports programs. Universities are supposed to focus on education first. The accreditors need to start pulling accreditation if they are in precarious financial situations but keep funding sports. It's a shame that NDNU didn't get the message sooner. I don't know about the quality of the education, but it was a beautiful little school in the hills of Belmont. I had friends who graduated from there. |
|
|
|
Post by volleylearner on Mar 30, 2020 11:15:32 GMT -5
A significant amount of STEM could be eliminated from higher ed with little-to-no effect on our work force.
I could not disagree more with this statement--unless you move the higher ed STEM education to high school, which is a different discussion. My field is Computer Science. About 3/4 of my undergrad classes were STEM, including an independent project where I worked with a professor. None of it was like anything I would have gotten as an intern, including the independent project (because most intern managers are not at all like professors). I've also worked both in academia and at companies large and small. Undergraduate education is generally focused on concepts that are valuable to students across multiple jobs and careers, intern jobs are generally about connecting those concepts to commerical applications. Training with specific tools and processes is part of both--but really a secondary aspect. While there are similarities between a good professor and a good manager, the differences are significant. In terms of "effect on our work force" you are thinking too short-term. One of the problems our workforce has is not being able to adjust as needs change. An important part of a good undergraduate education is helping people learn how to figure out what they really like (I mean, 60hrs/week like) and what they are really good at. Using job internships to do this is very inefficient for both students and companies. |
|
