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Welcome to the podcast. We call it TWICV. It is our effort to provide a fast-paced, entertaining, and alternative voice to the propaganda and hype flowing out of colleges in America today.
This week in College Viability is a proud affilate of The EdUP Experience podcast network.
Gary Stocker (00:01.466)
It is Monday, July 6th, 2026. Hi everybody, Gary Stalker back with yet another podcast episode of This Week in College viability. Of course, each week we talk about the financial health and viability of both public and private colleges with data and with details, perspectives, and even applic applications we've developed, offered nowhere else. And of course, I'm sitting in front of my Blue Yeti microphone and using the smooth running riverside.fm podcast site.
And as a tie-in to the World Cup, if you want to appeal anything in today's podcast show, send me two red cards and a yellow card, and I'll be glad to I'll be glad to grant your appeal. Hey, we've got some topics this week. Mary Baldwin University on probation for not meeting financial responsibility standards, and professional associations and healthcare organizations, law organizations, retail organizations.
They may be driving accreditation requirements too far. And we also have finally, finally, we have threats of more college closings. Have colleges and students worrying about how to save themselves. We'll talk about that. And what about leading with price in college? You could be just like Walmart or Target or Costco or used car salesman, used car salesman, used cars salesman, and plus stories added just this morning.
And layoffs and cutbacks. Even in a holiday week, we had some layoffs are inevitable at Temple as the school looks to cut $16 million. The president says temple President John Fry said some reduction in force is inevitable as the university looks to make budget cuts to offset a projected $85 million deficit for 26-27. Susan Snyder at the Philadelphia Inquirer had the story.
And St. Louis University, from where I used to live in St. Louis, from multiple sources, St. Louis University, and I've watched this closely over the last few years, is a college that just can't control its expenses. They did some cutbacks back in 2024. And in the last couple of years, fiscal years 2024 and 2025, it has been spending some fifty five million more in its adjusted operating revenue.
Gary Stocker (02:25.474)
More than fifty-five million more ex if it essentially more expenses and revenues. And and they announced last week, again from multiple sources, they're going to eliminate thirty-five open faculty positions and forty-five staff positions, which means they're not going to fill positions they have spots for. And the pres and the message from President Edward Feaser said SLU has also cut filled faculty and staff positions. Interesting, but did not say how many.
It continues from private college to private college to private college. Page two. Mary Baldwin University on probation for allegedly not meeting financial responsibility standards from its accreditor. Lauren Keller had this story at WHSV Channel 3 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. And and here's the essence of the story for Mary Baldwin University. And of course you know me, I'm gonna go to the data. And we show that the value of the organization has dropped to negative.
And this is something called something called UNAP. The unrestricted net assets minus some property, plant, and equipment and debt and some other math that is done with that has gone from a positive 2.8 in 2023 to a negative point six in 2025. Fiscal year 2025. That's not a good trend. we're gonna also look at their student enrollment. It's down from a little over 2,000 to a little over 1700. That's about a 300 person, 300 student drop.
They were almost 32 million in 2021, and they're just almost the same exact number in 2025, which is concerning because that's five years. And as I recall, there have been some inflationary pressures of sorts in the last five years. And so you can't keep can't keep revenues flat when expenses are growing up. So again, Mary Baldwin has been on the show. Mary Baldwin University has been on the show before. they have they have issues with managing their finances.
And their accreditor has said as much. Page three. Let's go to page three. The US Department of Education issues a final rule to hold all colleges and universities accountable for low-earning programs. This is from an internal education department release on June 29th. the story reads exactly as the headline does. So here's here's my interpretation from the US Department of Education.
Gary Stocker (04:51.254)
Saying, hey, colleges be accountable for low income majors. My interpretation, weak majors are not welcome in American colleges.
If you've got a major, and I'm not gonna name any, if you've got a major that shows really low post-graduation compensation, the United States federal government is going to at some point say, hey, we're not gonna pay you for that. We're not gonna let the students borrow money for that. We're not gonna give you grants for that. Now, this will be difficult to track. This will be difficult to enforce, but here's my bet. My bet is most colleges will probably quit offering these earnings week.
Earnings light majors to avoid any bad plebiscity, other major that impact other majors. So they won't offer a low compensation major if it's going to risk some of their high compensation majors being thrown in the same dirty water bath. So the market is evolving. And sure, government initiatives are part of that, but in the end, the colleges and their paying students.
Colleges and their paying students are a big part of this market movement.
Tiana Headley had this story at Bloomberg government on July 2nd. Trump aims, the Trump administration aims to limit outside influence on college accreditors. Let me just read part of Ms. Hadley's story. The Trump administration's college accreditation overhaul targets bipartisan, bipartisan concerns that trade groups, professional groups, have captured the accreditors. They're kind of connected together there, that act as gatekeepers.
Gary Stocker (06:35.126)
Over the quality of specialized education in fields like law, accounting, healthcare, and others like that. A forthcoming proposal, the story goes on. A forthcoming proposal will aim to curb the influence of trade associations and professional organizations on those so-called programmatic accreditors. Trump officials argue that the trade associations wield influence on the accreditation system by requiring, this is the big deal, these trade associations.
Through the accreditation organizations, are requiring that students earn more advanced degrees than necessary, more advanced degrees than the market requires. And finally, not in the podcast, but finally, as in a headline, threats of more closings have colleges and students worrying, both colleges and students worrying about how to save themselves. Campus shutdowns are spurring everything from lawsuits.
To tuition compensation funds to virtual reality remembrances. That was for a college in up by Chicago, Trinity Christian, I believe it was. somebody did a virtual reality remembrance video for that, to remember that college in the decades and centuries that followed. This overall story is from John Marcus at Hecinger on July 5th. And effectively the summary is the feds, the federal government, are speeding up the merger and acquisition process, not making it so burdensome.
So that when colleges want to get together to form a business relationship, they can do it more quickly. And then 22 states, and I did not know this till I read this story from John Marcus. 22 states make colleges pay into a tuition recovery plan. Interesting, and I'll keep my eye on that. And let's go to Massachusetts, a regular, a frequent flyer on the show. And I've talked about this before. Twenty-six private colleges have shut down since 2014 in Massachusetts. And there's a law, I think it's called the Farm Law.
Now requires private colleges in Massachusetts and universities to provide financial reports to anyone who wants to see them. The line is not long. The line is not long. Regulators, regulators have been conducting annual reviews to determine and publicly disclose disclose, and I'm gonna take issue with that because the public disclosure is buried deep on websites. Public disclosure whether institutions are at imminent likelihood of failing. This is in Massachusetts.
Gary Stocker (09:02.734)
Not in fact since twenty eighteen women, Ida closed there on very short notice. And for those that listen to the show regularly, Hampshire and Anna Maria College closed just in the last couple of months. They're in Massachusetts.
The law is not working. For whatever reason, the state of Massachusetts is not sharing with the public in an easy-to-find, easy to follow format that, hey, college is in trouble, or this college is in trouble. So you can't, again, I've said this before and I'll say it again. You can't trust state education departments. You can't trust accreditors. You can't trust colleges to provide the kind of transparent information that students and families primarily need, and even faculty, staff, and communities.
in a secondary format, secondary fashion, they need what is needed is what I'm here for, is unbiased companies like College Viability and Prospective Data Science and Mark Salisbury's Tuition Fit and a few others to provide the information that's easy to find. Yeah, you may have to pay a couple of bucks for it, but it's easy to find and is well worth a small investment to make sure that the college you're looking at is going to be around for at least four years.
It's important now. I will continue to beat on this on this topic for a long, long time. Virginia. Not the girl, but the state, Virginia and Ohio, join an effort to design a three-year bachelor's degree. Ben Unglesby had this story on June 29th at Higher Education Dive. And the subheading reads: While some say such degrees could increase college affordability, two groups pl blasted them as stripped.
Down curriculum that's prioritizes speed speed. I'll let you guess what what what stakeholders in higher education is saying that three year bachelor's degrees are not a good idea. And I'll I'll ask and answer the question. Yeah, you just have to love. Sarcasm, I guess. You just have to love college faculty. Their representatives have made this response.
Gary Stocker (11:15.758)
To this proposal that two states looking at a three-year bachelor's degree, leaders of the American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers spoke out against the state approval of those degrees, as well as three-year programs in general. They say, and that's these two organizations, that green lighting this threatens academic integrity by substituting for a comprehensive education.
A stripped down curriculum that prioritizes speed over essential intellectual development. This is from AAUP president Todd Wolfson and AFT President Randy Weingarten. They said that in a joint statement. Wolfson and Weingarten argued that a shorter bachelor's degree pathway was the wrong, listen closely, was the wrong way, wrong tool to reduce college costs. Instead, instead, don't fall out of your chair here.
Instead, they are advocating Wolsenum Weingarten are advocating for expanding the Pell Grant and other federal and state programs. This is my true sarcasm alert.
Be ready. The the teachers, the faculty organizations want expanded revenue. So when you read that, it's it's give us more money. All they want is more money to pay faculty. And that's a representation, I understand that, but that's not a fix. And it's too predictable. Probably not even a story I should have had on the show. And I I I guess I wonder if I think about this. I wonder if someone suggests 12 month college.
From August through July, something like that. I wonder if someone suggests 12-month college. If faculty organization will say, hey, that's too hard. I should have done sarcasm alert for that one also. And just a quick note: a March report by the published by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers said that at least 770 colleges are offering three-year degrees, are currently considering them. And you watch. You watch.
Gary Stocker (13:26.838)
If this three-year degree catches on, colleges will flock to it in a big, big hurry. They're not going to be left behind. What will be fascinating to watch, what will be fascinating to watch is the response of the individual faculty at these colleges. Because you've heard me tease before, a college can change the font type on its business card and some faculty member will protest. If they're going to change from 120-ish credits to 90-ish credits, it'd be fascinating.
Fascinating to see not just the professional associations that we talked about here, but the individual college faculty groups, faculty senates, individual faculty members, and their response to a three year 90 credit program. Page four, let's talk Walmart. Let's talk Target. Let's talk Costco. Can price first admissions improve college access? Joshua Bay had the story on June 25th at Inside Higher Education.
And Cornell College, not the university, but the college in Iowa. Cornell College, Cornell College's program gives students financial aid estimates before they even apply. And it reduces affordability, uncertainty, and influences enrollment decisions. All right. So I read the article, of course. And the max doesn't work.
The math from this story by Joshua Bay doesn't work.
I don't know what I'm missing. So here's a paragraph from this story. During the program's first year at Cornell College sent an estimated unsolicited 20,000 financial aid projections to prospective students. College officials said nearly one-fifth of the incoming fall 2026 class committed to Cornell after receiving a save your seat estimate. That's the name of the program. Suggesting that earlier cost information.
Gary Stocker (15:22.284)
May play a significant role in students' college decision making. Well, you know me, I you know me, I go to the data. So let's do the math on this. So 20,000 students got this. They said one fifth, so let me get out of my fingers and toes, one fifth is the same as 20%. 20% of 20,000 unsolicited students is 4,000, right? 20% of 20,000 is 4,000. So I checked the Cornell College iPads data.
And this college in Iowa averages about a thousand total FTE students over the past eight reported years. Yet if if the math is correct here, 4,000 students showed up, will show up this fall. I don't know where the beds are gonna be for all those. I even put a new battery in my calculator. I should have been sarcasm alert, also. Got the same results. And I saw somebody, I posted this on LinkedIn as well.
Somebody tried to explain the math to me, but I didn't I still think I might. I still think they didn't check the math on this to Cornell College's actual enrollment. But hey, if if I may something, let me know. you can reach to me, you can reach me at Gary at college viability dot com. Let's let's do a wrap.
Gary Stocker (16:42.818)
Somebody once said words matter. Words matter. I assume somewhere, someplace, sometime, somebody also said numbers matter. And while the inside higher ed story that I just talked about is probably just a misunderstood point trying to be made, there are many numbers, many, many numbers that students and families and other college stakeholders should make a priority. And I'll give you a few. The enrollment trend.
Don't don't look at a college's press release this summer saying, hey, our applications are up, which means nothing. Our enrollment is up, which means not much until we actually see who shows up. Look at the enrollment trend. Look at the full-time enrollment trend over a five to ten year period. And please look at the four year graduation rates. If a college is graduating less than 50% of its students in four years, ask them why until they give you an answer.
Ask them what they're doing to fix it. And ask them how long it will take to get it so that more than half the students graduate in four years. Look at their endowment. If you're not familiar with an endowment, it is it's kind of a savings account. It's a lot more complex than that, but that's the rainy day fund. Again, a gross simplification. That's the rainy day fund for a college. If it's not at least fifty, five, zero million, that's not good. That shows that that college has not does not have the expertise, the experience, or the resources.
Or the support to generate a bare minimum of an endowment. And I would add to that something that nobody is tracking but me, I think, and that's completed majors. And I've used this example on the show before. If your child is interested in journalism, go to our completed majors app at college viability dot com and see how many journalism majors graduated, completed that degree at that college in the last year, the last four years, depending on the app version.
If it's a small number, be careful. If it's less than 10. If it's less than five, be really, really careful. Because low completion majors, that's different than low enrollment. Low completion is exactly what it is. If those numbers are low in this day and age, that's the kind of majors that colleges are closing week in and week out. And I lead off each podcast with closures and layoffs. Be careful. And we provide all those. We provide information, we provide information on all of those.
Gary Stocker (19:12.042)
In the college viability inspection report and the soon-to-be-released My College Decision Lens. And I saw yet another higher education prognosticator. I think maybe that's what I am too. This morning, just this morning, restate something I've been saying for about two years. And this person said there appears to be an enrollment trend, an enrollment market move to brand name public colleges. Now, if you're listening to the show regularly, you've heard me say this many times before.
Now, I don't know the names of the people who listen to this podcast. I don't know that I can find that out unless somebody tells me. But I do know that a couple thousand per week download it. And I'm happy. I'm happy to see yet another one of my predictions make it into the words from another mouth. Happy to provide help. Happy to share my thoughts, and if you want to take them, run with them. But here are some.
Here are some more words to add. And I'm not the only one saying this. Higher education is a market in decline. I look at the numbers almost daily. And it is impossible, it's impossible to see any way out for this industry, for this higher education industry, outside of significant mind-boggling consolidation, closures, mergers.
And other versions of partnerships. It's gonna happen. Can't give you a date, it's just too tough. But I will tell you it's sooner rather than later. Don't fall out of your chair if it starts to happen this summer and this fall. So hey, let's call that a wrap on this episode of This Week in College Viability. I'm Gary Stalker at College Viability. Thanks as always for listening. I'll be back next Monday.