Student Drought Hits Smaller Universities

Cameron McWhirter & Douglas Belkin:

As Loyola University New Orleans gears up for fall classes next month, the 101-year-old Jesuit University faces a crisis: There will be 25% fewer freshmen than the school had banked on.

"It was a pretty big hit," said Marc K. Manganaro, provost and vice president for academic affairs.

Getting a targeted number of accepted students to commit to a college's freshman class--known as the "yield"--has become more crucial for thousands of schools.

Enrollment rates for numerous smaller and lesser-known colleges and universities are falling this year, due to a decline in the U.S. college-age population, years of rising tuition, increasing popularity of Internet courses and a weak job market for recent graduates.

Now, along with preparing for fall courses, Loyola officials are agonizing about how to plug a $9.5 million shortfall in the school's $163 million annual budget, the result of 221 fewer freshmen than expected.

Since last May, the 5,000-student private college has imposed a hiring freeze, reduced faculty hours, hired outside firms to revamp its marketing and financial aid, and is setting up early-retirement packages for some faculty. If that isn't sufficient to fill the gap, the school may tap its $275 million endowment. Layoffs are "a last option," a spokeswoman said.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at July 28, 2013 12:17 AM
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