Category: higher education

  • College Athletes Can Now Make Millions Off Sponsorship Deals – The 74

    College Athletes Can Now Make Millions Off Sponsorship Deals – The 74


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    $390,000 to Jaylon Tyson, a former basketball guard at UC Berkeley, from a group of private donors.

    $3,000 to Jordan Chiles, a UCLA gymnast and Olympic gold-medal winner, from Grammarly, an AI writing company. 

    $390 to Mekhi Mays, a former Cal State Long Beach sprinter, from a local barbecue joint. 

    These payments — derived from data that public universities provided to CalMatters — were part of “name, image and likeness deals” requiring students to create favorable posts on social media. 

    Such sponsorship deals were unheard of just four years ago. In 2021, California enacted a law allowing athletes to make these kinds of brand deals. It was the first state to pass such a law, prompting similar changes across the country. 

    This is the first-ever look at what many California athletes have actually made. University records show that money is flowing, but how much college athletes earn depends largely on the popularity of the sport, the gender and star power of its players and the fanbase of the university. While UCLA gymnasts earned over $2 million in the last three school years, university records show that players on the UCLA women’s water polo team earned just $152 during the same time frame, despite winning the national championship last year. 

    For companies, these name, image and likeness deals are akin to paying any other celebrity or professional athlete to promote a product. University alumni and sports fans can’t give money directly to a student athlete — at least not yet — but they are allowed to make name, image and likeness deals. Many universities have private donor groups, known as collectives or booster clubs, that offer athletes money, sometimes more than $400,000 in a single transaction, in exchange for an autograph or participation in a brief charity event. Often, those deals are a pretext to send money to top-tier players and discourage them from seeking better deals at other colleges.

    CalMatters reached out to every public and private university in the state with Division 1 teams, where the potential for profit is typically highest, and requested data that shows how much money each of its student athletes have made since 2021. State law requires all student athletes to report to their school any compensation they receive from their name, image and likeness, and public universities are required to disclose certain kinds of data upon request. Private universities, such as Stanford University and the University of Southern California, are not required to disclose any data about their students’ earnings. 

    All of the public Division 1 universities responded to CalMatters’ inquiry, though they did not all provide the same degree of transparency. San Jose State and Cal State Northridge said they had no records of any deals.

    There’s no consequence for students who fail to report what are known as NIL deals, so the data from public institutions may be incomplete. Still, certain trends emerge: 

    • College athletes at the state’s public universities received millions of dollars from collectives or booster clubs. At four University of California schools, around 70% or more of all compensation came from these collectives, according to university records. That’s just below national trends, according to a report by Opendorse, a tech company that tracks students’ deals. 
    • Male basketball players earned the most. While football is more popular and lucrative, nationally, many public Division 1 schools in California lack a football team. The football data may also be incomplete. For instance, all football players at UC Berkeley reported making a total of just over $113,000 since 2021 — less than what all San Diego State players made — even though Berkeley is in a more prominent conference. 
    • For high-profile football or basketball players in particular, it’s becoming more common for students to transfer multiple times, often in search of better name, image and likeness deals. Some California institutions, such as UC Davis and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, have seen top athletes transfer colleges or threaten to transfer in order to attain better compensation elsewhere.
    • Except for a few star players, such as Chiles, most female college athletes made very little, according to the data provided to CalMatters. 
    • Collectively, athletes at UCLA and UC Berkeley earned more than double what those attending other UC and California State University campuses made. Some donors, such as those supporting Sacramento State and UC San Diego, have rapidly raised money to compete, while at other schools, athletic directors say they’ll never be able to guarantee such high-dollar deals. 

    Schools often removed any information that could identify an individual student. While UCLA generally did not provide the individual names of its athletes, the school was more transparent than most and shared the date of each transaction, the name of the brand or company, the amount of money it gave, and the sport. In February, a UCLA gymnast reported receiving $250,000 from the beverage company Bubbl’r. Since then, Chiles has promoted that brand, repeatedly. In May, a UCLA gymnast reported receiving $210,000 from the cosmetic brand Milani for “social media” — just a few months before Chiles posted a video on Instagram, promoting its makeup. One or more members of the UCLA gymnastics team have also reported deals with the food company Danone for $300,000 and with the health care company Sanofi for $285,000. 

    Fresno State shared less information. In the 2021-22 academic year, the Fresno State women’s basketball team raked in over $1.1 million from multiple name, image and likeness deals, but the university did not disclose which players were involved or how many were paid. After influencers and former basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder transferred to the University of Miami in April 2022, the number and dollar amount of deals for the Fresno team diminished. In the 2023-24 academic year, the team made just over $1,000 from 10 different deals.

    Money from boosters or collectives is the hardest to trace. In May, for example, a group of UCLA donors gave an undisclosed football player $450,000 for “social media.” 

    While private universities are not required to disclose students’ earnings, market estimates from On3, a media and technology company focused on college sports, say the highest-earning Stanford University athlete, basketball player Maxime Raynaud, could collect $1.5 million in the next 12 months. The top USC athlete, football player Jayden Maiava, could make $603,000 in the next year, according to the same estimates. These numbers are based on an algorithm that uses aggregate deals from college athletes across the country. Nationwide, the Opendorse report estimates that college athletes will earn $1.65 billion in the 2024-25 academic year. 

    Soon, college athletes may make even more. A high-profile class-action lawsuit will likely allow schools to pay athletes directly, while still classifying them as students, not employees. If the proposed settlement agreement goes into effect, students could see payouts as early as this fall. 

    If a school pays a student directly, the money should be divided roughly proportional to the number of male and female athletes, the Biden administration said in a U.S. Department of Education fact sheet issued in January. The page no longer exists. 

    In the last few months, attorneys have rescinded federal labor petitions asking that USC and Dartmouth College student athletes be reclassified as employees, but new cases are likely on the horizon, said Mit Winter, an attorney who specializes in name, image and likeness law: “I do think at some point — two years, five years, whatever it is — at least some college athletes will be employees.”

    A Times Square billboard reads: NIL has begun

    For decades, college sports have been a big business, though most of the money flowed to universities, not students. Nationally, Division 1 universities reported $17.5 billion in athletic revenue in 2022, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). That’s more than the gross domestic product of 83 countries. For schools with top-performing football programs, such as UCLA and Berkeley, broadcast deals and other kinds of marketing represent over a third of total revenue. 

    Before California’s law went into effect, college athletes weren’t allowed to profit off their sport, though they frequently received scholarships equal to the cost of college tuition. On July 1, 2021 the new law took effect, and Haley and Hanna Cavinder were the first to benefit, signing deals with Boost Mobile, a cell phone company, and Sixstar, a nutrition company, just after the stroke of midnight. A Times Square billboard proclaimed they were the first such deals in the country. 

    Over the past four years, other California college athletes have signed advertising deals with clothing brands such as Crocs, Heelys and Aeropostale and food brands such as Liquid I.V. and Jack in the Box. FTX, the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, signed contracts with at least six players on the UCLA women’s basketball team in 2021. In 2022, the Biden campaign gave a UCLA gymnast $7,000, but public records did not disclose the purpose of the transaction. No other politicians appeared in any university’s data.

    Last year, Visit Fresno County, a nonprofit that promotes tourism, paid former Fresno State football players Dean Clark and Kosi Agina just under $10,000 to post Instagram videos about a local farmer’s market and a minor league baseball team, according to President and CEO Lisa Oliveira. She said the posts were so successful that she asked Agina to make another video, promoting a hiking trail in the Sierra National Forest. 

    But much of the money for students’ name, image and likeness doesn’t come from brands at all — it’s from private donors. Philanthropist and entertainment lawyer Mark Kalmansohn has given nearly $150,000 in 12 different transactions to athletes on UCLA’s volleyball, softball and women’s basketball teams since 2022, according to the data, which runs through May of last year. In an interview with CalMatters, Kalmansohn said he’s given more than $175,000 since May. “Women’s sports were almost always treated in a second-hand nature and given inferior resources,” he said, adding that his philanthropy is about “women’s rights.”

    In exchange for money, he asks each recipient to issue a free license of their name, image and likeness to a nonprofit organization that’s relevant to the athlete’s sport. But he said that’s not the norm. “In men’s football and men’s basketball, it’s pretty obvious that money is not for an ‘appearance’.” Instead, he explained that it’s a way to support the player and keep the team competitive. 

    Most donors give money to specific athletes through a collective, where the donors’ identities are largely hidden. At UCLA, public data through the 2023-24 academic year shows that a collective known as the Men of Westwood channeled nearly $2 million in private donations to the football, basketball and baseball teams. At Berkeley, collectives gave over $1.3 million to athletes since the 2022-23 academic year — the vast majority of which went to the men’s basketball team. 

    Supporting ‘elite talent’ at UC and Cal State

    For years, NCAA rules made it difficult for college athletes to transfer schools, but in 2021, right around the time that California started to allow name, image and likeness deals, the NCAA eased those rules. The number of students who transfer suddenly jumped in 2021 and has ticked up each year since, according to NCAA data. In practice, the new rules means that a well-endowed collective can lure athletes who want to make more money. 

    This year, over 11% of all Division 1 football players have tried to transfer colleges, an increase from the previous year, said Matt Kraemer, whose organization, The Portal Report, uses social media posts and tips from insiders to gauge college athletes’ transfer activity. Quarterbacks are even more likely to try to transfer, Kraemer said.

    For institutions like UC Davis, the threat of losing a top athlete can be costly. Late in the 2023-24 academic year, donors from other universities promised top athletes lucrative deals if they agreed to transfer, so UC Davis formed a collective, Aggie Edge, to make counter-offers, said Athletic Director Rocko DeLuca. “It’s a means to retain elite talent here at Davis.”

    DeLuca said the collective gave men’s basketball guard TY Johnson $50,000 and UC Davis running back Lan Larison $25,000. Those transactions were for “social media, appearances, autographs,” according to the university’s data. 

    So far, all other UC Davis athletes — more than 700 students over 25 sports — have reported just under $19,000 in deals since 2021. A few other athletes received products, such as a free cryotherapy session or a commission based on sales.

    In December, former UC Berkeley quarterback Fernando Mendoza transferred to Indiana University, where he later signed a name, image and likeness deal with a collective for an undisclosed amount. UC Berkeley then recruited former Ohio State quarterback Devin Brown the day after he won a national championship. It’s not clear if the Berkeley collective offered Brown a deal, since the university’s data doesn’t name Brown. 

    Justin DiTolla, Berkeley’s associate athletic director, said the university is “not affiliated with the collective” and that the university provides “equal support to all student athletes.” “We recognize that there is a difference in NIL support,” he said, “But it isn’t under our scope or umbrella.” The Berkeley collective, California Legends, declined to comment.

    At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, some football players sought more money through a name, image and likeness deal by transferring to another school, but they didn’t all succeed, said Don Oberhelman, the university’s athletic director. “That’s the dirty little secret of all of this: the number of kids who blow an opportunity.”

    This fall, nine football players at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo announced their intention to transfer, he said. Six of them found a new university, he said, including University of Texas El Paso, San Diego State, Stanford, and Washington State — but three of them never received an offer from another school. 

    Oberhelman said that his football coach begins recruiting a replacement the moment a player announces his intention to transfer. If that student doesn’t end up transferring, he may lose his spot on the football team and the entirety of his athletic scholarship, which can be up to $30,000 a year. 

    “There’s raw emotion involved in these kinds of decisions,” he said. “I don’t think that’s how we would operate, but I can see a lot of people say, ‘You broke up with us.’” 

    Oberhelman said he doesn’t know what happened to the three players from the football team who failed to transfer. “For me, it would boil down to: Did we promise that money to someone else? Did we find another transfer or a high school person to replace you? If we did, that would put your future financial aid with us in jeopardy.”

    Small-town name, image and likeness deals 

    Outside of top football and men’s basketball programs, many of California’s college athletes vie for smaller name, image and likeness deals, often with local businesses, lesser-known clothing or athletic brands, or anything else they can find.

    Former Berkeley softball player Randi Roelling got $50 from one woman to give a pitching lesson to her daughter. In July 2023, chiropractor Lance Casazza started giving out free sessions to at least one Sacramento State football player in exchange for social media posts.

    Annika Shah, a basketball player at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, got her first deal through a local restaurant, Jewel of India, which occasionally has a pop-up tent outside the college gym. “I just said, ‘Hey I can market you. Let’s think of a cool slogan to put out.’” Customers who ask to “swish with Shah” at the checkout counter get a discount on their meal, she said. Shah doesn’t get any money, she said, but she does get free food whenever she visits. 

    “It was just a cool relationship and connection that I made with this family and the owners of Jewel of India, where they just want to help me out and I want to help them.” 

    Walking around campus, friends jokingly refer to Shah as their own “Jewel of India” and she likes it. “It’s such a marketable slogan now, and it kind of identifies who I am.”

    Many Division 1 schools have their own websites where customers can buy gear with an athlete’s name on it, but last fall, no such platform existed at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said Shah, so she created her own. She partnered with a company, Cloud 9 Sports, and launched her own apparel brand. It’s brought in about $2,000 in sales so far, but after the university and Cloud 9 Sports take a cut, Shah said she’s left with about $800. 

    Shah said she was never told to report any of her monetary or in-kind contributions. After CalMatters asked, Oberhelman, the athletic director, said the school is now requiring it. “We haven’t done a great job following up because we’re just not going to have student athletes that are getting even five-figure deals,” he said. 

    Oberhelman said he only knew of eight deals, each for $2,000, all to the men’s football team from a group of private donors.

    Fresno State provided more data than Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, but it did not designate which deals came from its collective, known as Bulldog Bread. On its website the collective says it has raised more than $690,000 in corporate donations for Fresno State. At the top tier, that includes money from former Fresno State quarterbacks David and Derek Carr, property developer Lance Kashian, and construction company Tarlton and Son, Inc. The collective recently launched a vodka brand in partnership with a distillery, where a portion of all proceeds support students’ name, image and likeness deals.

    Athletes at UC Santa Barbara have reported $1,800 from their collective, Gold & Blue, but many other transactions reported by the school provide few details. According to the school’s data, an unnamed person or group made 15 deals with one or more members of the UC Santa Barbara men’s basketball team, totaling over $50,000 in “appearance fees” for an event last August associated with Heal the Ocean, a local environmental nonprofit. 

    The organization’s executive director, Hillary Hauser, said the nonprofit made no such contribution and had no events in August. University spokesperson Kiki Reyes said it’s “possible” that a collective made those payments, but she refused to respond to CalMatters’ questions regarding Hauser’s statement the event never occurred. 

    From August 2023 to August 2024, male basketball and baseball athletes at UC Santa Barbara reported roughly $500,000 in compensation for appearance fees related to various charities. Over the same time frame, all other athletes reported receiving free products, sales referrals, and cash payments totaling about $1,000.

    At UCLA, the CEO of the Men of Westwood collective, Ken Graiwer, is listed in university records as the “point of contact” for a $450,000 contribution, distributed over six transactions in the 2023-24 academic year, to the men’s basketball team for “public appearances.” For each of those transactions, the university’s data lists the Team First Foundation, a sports nonprofit, as the vendor. Neither UCLA nor the Team First Foundation responded to questions about who made the payment. 

    A few months before those transactions, the Men of Westwood posted a few photos on its Instagram account, showing UCLA men’s basketball players on the court with smiling children from the Team First Foundation programs. In the post, the Men of Westwood said it was “NIL outreach.” 

    California universities try to ‘stay competitive’

    Since becoming legal in 2021, the market for name, image and likeness compensation has exploded. Sports commentators, attorneys, and athletic directors say the landscape is a kind of “wild West” or “gold rush”: The money is pouring in, but the regulations are sparse or evolving.

    CalMatters has partial data from the 2024-25 academic year, but early indicators suggest that even more cash will soon flow to players. In September, a group of Sacramento State alumni, including some state lawmakers, said they raised over $35 million in one day for name, image and likeness deals. Cal State Bakersfield and UC San Diego recently formed their own collectives too.

    Last year, former Democratic Sen. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley — one of the co-authors of the watershed name, image and likeness law — proposed a new bill to gather more data about spending by collectives and its impact on women’s sports. Newsom vetoed the bill, saying “Further changes to this dynamic should be done nationally.” 

    Initially, the NCAA tried to prevent colleges from directly assisting athletes with deals, but the association has eased those regulations recently, blurring the lines between universities and the private collectives that support them. Many states have passed laws explicitly allowing universities to make deals directly with students. In October, Skinner and former Democratic Sen. Steven Bradford wrote a letter to California universities, encouraging them to do the same. 

    “I strongly urge California schools to make full use of (the watershed law) to stay competitive in college sports, especially now that other states are copying California and allowing their schools to make direct NIL deals with their student athletes,” said Skinner in a press release about the letter.

    This spring, California District Judge Claudia Wilken is expected to approve a settlement between athletes and the NCAA that would further expand the ways universities can pay their players. In the proposed settlement, a college could directly spend up to a combined $20.5 million per year on payments to all of its athletes. The spending limit would grow over time.

    Regardless of the settlement, athletic directors at many of California’s public institutions, such as Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Bakersfield, said they don’t plan on giving any more money directly to students because their athletic programs lack the cash. “They’re already on full scholarship, so there aren’t any more existing dollars we can really offer that person,” said Oberhelman, with Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Even if the university did have the money, he said he’s concerned about the legal implications of paying students directly. “Are they going to get a W-2 now? Are we paying workers comp? Nobody seems to have answered a lot of these questions.”

    DiTolla, at Berkeley, said the university will start paying its athletes once the settlement is finalized. UC San Diego joined Division 1 sports last year, and Athletic Director Earl Edwards said it is “seriously considering” paying its athletes too “if that’s what we need to do to be competitive.” UCLA refused to comment on the proposed settlement.

    USC Senior Associate Athletic Director Cody Worsham said the university will “invest the full permissible $20.5 million in 2025-26.” Stanford refused to answer any questions.

    While no Division 1 school in California has shared details about how it plans to pay its athletes, experts, such as attorney Mit Winter, say the proposed settlement is unlikely to change the current disparities in college sports, especially within the four most lucrative and dominant athletic conferences, known as the Power Four. Stanford, USC, UC Berkeley and UCLA are all in the Power Four. 

    For female rowers like Anaiya Singer, a freshman at UCLA, the disparities among men’s and women’s sports — and between football, basketball and everyone else — are no surprise. “Those big sports do bring in the most revenue, and they’re the most watched,” she said, while acknowledging that other athletes, such as fellow rowers, “deserve much more than we’re getting.” 

    Singer said she’s been working on building her social media brand and has nearly 3,000 followers on TikTok and just over 1,300 on Instagram. A few “very small companies” reached out to her through TikTok about promoting beauty products, but none of the brands felt like a good fit, she said. She has yet to agree to any deals or receive any funding from a collective.

    Neither have most of her peers. The UCLA women’s rowing team has reported less than $500 in name, image and likeness compensation since 2021.

    In the proposed settlement, each school will each be able to independently determine how to distribute their funds, but Winter said universities will likely follow their peers. “If you’re in UCLA, Berkeley….you’re in the Power Four and you’re going to have to stay competitive in recruiting,” he said. 

    “Most of the Power Four schools have all sort of landed on a similar way they’re going to pay that money out,” he added: 75% to the football team, 15% to the basketball team, around 5% to women’s basketball, and 5% to all other sports.

    This article was originally published on CalMatters and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives license.


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  • COLUMN: Trump is bullying, blackmailing and threatening colleges, and they are just beginning to fight back

    COLUMN: Trump is bullying, blackmailing and threatening colleges, and they are just beginning to fight back

    Patricia McGuire has always been an outspoken advocate for her students at Trinity Washington University, a small, Catholic institution that serves largely Black and Hispanic women, just a few miles from the White House. She’s also criticized what she calls “the Trump administration’s wholesale assault on freedom of speech and human rights.”

    In her 36 years as president, though, McGuire told me, she has never felt so isolated, a lonely voice challenging an agenda she believes “demands a vigorous and loud response from all of higher education. “

    It got a little bit louder this week, after Harvard University President Alan Garber refused to capitulate to Trump’s demands that it overhaul its operations, hiring and admissions. Trump is now calling on the IRS to rescind Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

    The epic and unprecedented battle with Harvard is part of Trump’s push to remake higher education and attack elite schools, beginning with his insistence that Harvard address allegations of antisemitism, stemming from campus protests related to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza following attacks by Hamas in October 2023.

    Related: Become a lifelong learner. Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter featuring the most important stories in education.

    Garber responded that “no government — regardless of which party is in power — should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit and hire, and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue” — words that Harvard faculty, students and others in higher education had been urging him to say for weeks. Students and faculty at Brown and Yale are asking their presidents to speak out as well.

    Many hope it is the beginning of a new resistance in higher education. “Harvard’s move gives others permission to come out on the ice a little,” McGuire said. “This is an answer to the tepid and vacillating presidents who said they don’t want to draw attention to themselves.”

    Harvard paved the way for other institutions to stand up to the administration’s demands, Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, noted in an interview with NPR this week.

    Stanford University President Jonathan Levin immediately backed Harvard, noting that “the way to bring about constructive change is not by destroying the nation’s capacity for scientific research, or through the government taking command of a private institution.”

    Former President Barack Obama on Monday urged others to follow suit.

    A minuscule number of college leaders had spoken out before Harvard’s Garber, including Michael Gavin, president of Delta College, a community college in Michigan; Princeton University’s president, Christopher Eisgruber; Danielle Holley of Mount Holyoke; and SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. Of more than 70 prominent higher education leaders who signed a petition circulated Tuesday supporting Garber, only a handful were current college presidents, including Michael Roth of Wesleyan, Susan Poser of Hofstra, Alison Byerly of Carleton, David Fithian of Clark University, Jonathan Holloway of Rutgers University and Laura Walker of Bennington College.

    Speaking out and opposing Trump is not without consequences: The president retaliated against Harvard by freezing $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts to Harvard.

    Related: For our republic to survive, education leaders must remain firm in the face of authoritarianism

    Many higher ed leaders think it’s going to take a bigger, collective effort fight for everything that U.S. higher education stands for, including those with more influence than Trinity Washington, which has no federal grants and an endowment of just $30 million. It’s also filled with students working their way through school.

    About 15 percent are undocumented and live in constant fear of being deported under Trump policies, McGuire told me. “We need the elites out there because they have the clout and the financial strength the rest of us don’t have,” she said. “Trinity is not on anyone’s radar.”

    Some schools are pushing back against Trump’s immigration policies, hoping to protect their international and undocumented students. Occidental College President Tom Stritikus is among the college presidents who signed an amicus brief this month detailing concerns about the administration’s revocation of student and faculty visas and the arrest and detention of students based on campus advocacy.

    “I think the real concern is the fear and instability that our students are experiencing. It is just heartbreaking to me,” Stritikus told me. He also spoke of the need for “collective action” among colleges and the associations that support them.

    Related: Tracking Trump: His actions to abolish the Education Department, and more

    The fear is real: More than 210 colleges and universities have identified 1,400-plus international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department, according to Inside Higher Ed. Stritikus said Occidental is providing resources, training sessions and guidance for student and faculty.

    Many students, he said, would like him to do more. “When I’m around students, I’m more optimistic for our future,” Stritikus said. “Our higher education system has been the envy of the world for a very long time. Clearly these threats to institutional autonomy, freedom of expression and the civil rights of our community put all that risk.”

    Back at Trinity Washington, McGuire said she will continue to make calls, talk to other college presidents and encourage them to take a stronger stand.

    “I tell them, you will never regret doing what is right, but if you allow yourself to be co-opted, you will have regret that you caved to a dictator who doesn’t care about you or your institution.”

    Contact Liz Willen at willen@hechingerreport.org

    This story about the future of higher education was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter.

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • College Uncovered: Tag, You’re In!

    College Uncovered: Tag, You’re In!

    What if colleges started applying to you instead of the other way around?

    The anxiety-inducing college admissions game is changing. With declining birth rates and growing skepticism about the value of a degree, higher education is facing an enrollment cliff, set to hit hard in 2026. That’s 18 years after the Great Recession, when many American families stopped having babies.

    As competition for students intensifies, more states desperate for workforce talent and schools dependent on tuition dollars are turning to direct admission – a system in which students receive college acceptance offers and scholarships before they even apply.

    Marykate Agnes was directly admitted to Western New England University, and also got a significant amount of financial aid. Credit: Kirk Carapezza

    In this episode, hosts Kirk Carapezza and Jon Marcus break down how we even got to the point at which the traditional college admission process required students to spend time and money with no guarantee of success. And they ask whether direct admission is the solution colleges and students need, or a Band-Aid on a bigger enrollment crisis. 

    Listen to the whole series

    TRANSCRIPT

    [Jon] This is College Uncovered. I’m Jon Marcus.

    [Kirk] And I’m Kirk Carapezza.

    In the basement of the Student Center at Western New England University in Springfield, Massachusetts, students play pool and ping pong. At a table in the back, Ndilei Lukulay is taking a break from her studies. She tells me her mother came to the U.S. from Sierra Leone. Growing up in Springfield, Lukulay felt nervous about applying to college.

    [Ndilei Lukulay] I was definitely feeling the pressure of being that my mom is an immigrant. She’s very big on going to college and making sure that you get a good career and complete all your studies and so I didn’t know where to start and I was very stressed out about the whole thing.

    [Kirk] Then this university in her hometown emailed to say she was admitted and would get a scholarship and she hadn’t even applied. So she was skeptical.

    [Ndilei Lukulay] I was, like, is this a scam? Is this real?

    [Kirk] It was real. Western New England, a private university with about 2,000 students, offered to admit her and more than 2,000 other students before they even applied. The university tells me the goal is to make college more accessible to low-income students, like Lukulay, who make up about a third of the school’s population.

    This is called direct admission, and we’re seeing a lot more schools doing this as they confront a steep decline in the number of 18-year-olds, something economists call the demographic cliff. That’s going to mean a lot fewer college students — or potential customers.

    [Jon] And, Kirk, schools in areas of the country like western Massachusetts are the hardest hit.

    Here’s how it works. The college tells students they’d get in based on a handful of criteria, like their GPA or intended major. For students like Ndilei Lukulay, that means getting to skip writing essays, going to interviews, and getting letters of recommendation.

    [Ndilei Lukulay] I think I received direct admissions offers from about 12 to 15 schools and I was actually very shocked. I just never heard anything about it and I’m like, is that easy?

    [Jon] This is College Uncovered, a podcast pulling back the ivy to reveal how colleges really work. I’m Jon Marcus with the Hechinger Report. …

    [Kirk] … and I’m Kirk Carapezza with GBH News. Colleges don’t want you to know how they operate, so GBH …

    [Jon] … in collaboration with the Hechinger Report, is here to show you.

    In this season, we’re standing on the precipice of the demographic cliff and exploring the changing higher education landscape. And one of the major changes is how people are getting into college. Applying to schools is really stressful. But what if all that went away and colleges applied to you?

    Today on the show” Tag, You’re In!”

    [Kirk] Direct admission is now used by hundreds of schools across the country. And more than a dozen state systems do this, too, including Oregon, Minnesota, and Connecticut. Idaho was the first state to create a direct admissions program.

    [Jennifer Delaney] In Idaho, it was actually the president of the flagship who tried to apply to his own college and found it really hard.

    [Kirk] Jennifer Delaney teaches higher ed policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and she studied the direct admissions program in Idaho, where every public institution in the state participates, as well as two private colleges.

    [Jennifer Delaney] It was about how do we simplify, how do think about increasing, as a state, overall college enrollment. So every kid in a public high school in Idaho gets a letter. You’re either in everywhere in the state if your GPA is high enough, or you’re into all the open-access institutions, which is every community college plus two public four-years.

    [Jon] This is a major shift, Kirk, in how colleges do business. For students, it helps ease the stress of the college search by letting them know they’re in before they even apply. For colleges desperate for students, it’s a way to fill their classroom.

    [Kirk] Yeah, and for states, Jon, it’s a way to keep talent close to home and develop a more educated workforce. Susan Makowski is director of admission at Rider University in New Jersey. We heard from her in our first episode this season.

    [Susan Makowski] The cliff is coming, so we just will have less students.

    [Kirk] At a college fair in Edison, New Jersey, she told me Rider was already admitting nearly 80 percent of those who applied when it decided to offer direct admission to students who’ve uploaded their applications through the Common App. That’s a single application accepted by more than 1,000 schools. So somebody applying to the University of Michigan suddenly gets accepted to other schools, like Rider.

    [Susan Makowski] These direct admission programs run the gamut of different ways that a student gets admitted. I may alert them that they look like a great fit for Rider, but they still need to decide — do they feel that way? Whereas the other options, really, I think, sometimes worry students. Like, is this real?

    [Jon] Interesting. But does direct admission really help colleges like Rider boost enrollment? And what if a college tags you? We’ll have more on that in a moment, so stay tuned.

    But first, how did we get to this point where the college admissions process requires students to spend a ton of time and money with no guarantee of success? And how did the whole process become so anxiety-inducing?

    [Kirk] Well, Jon, it wasn’t always this way.

    [Archival newsreel sound] There were a group of congressmen with long memories who were in the last war. They knew that when a man gets out of the Army or Navy or Marines, he’s worried most about a job, an education, and a home. And that’s why Congress, led by the president, passed the law, the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the G.I. Bill of Rights.

    [Kirk] Some quick history. After World War II, most of the students applying to college applied to a single school. And by the 1970s, it was maybe two schools. Today, one in three students applies to seven or more places. That shift has created a lot of uncertainty for colleges hoping to fill their seats and a lot anxiety for students and their families. To get a sense of why colleges push this system, I reached out to a long-time admissions insider.

    [John Burdick] My name is John Burdick. I was, until 2023, the vice provost for enrollment at Cornell University in New York.

    [Kirk] Burdick was in the game for nearly four decades. Since he left Cornell, he’s been working on international college access in Africa. So technically he’s still in the game. I asked him what drove us here?

    [John Burdick] This is basically just a classic arms race. The more rejection letters we can send, the more prestige we have, the more likely people will be willing to spend money on our services. And then students follow along behind that by a year or so and say, ‘I don’t know that I’m going to get in there or the other nine, 10, 19 prestigious places that I am applying to. So I better apply to all of them.’

    [Kirk] Burdick says everybody in the game has a perverse incentive — students to increase the number of applications they send, and colleges to increase the number of applications they get.

    [John Burdick] Now the Ivies will by and large say, ‘Oh, we don’t want more applications. We’re already only admitting 5 percent and it’s terrible and we’d just as soon not see applications.’ They’re lying through their teeth. They would freak out if they suddenly weren’t among the most selective universities on the planet.

    [Kirk] And on this planet, most colleges — 80% — admit more than half the students who apply. Still, selective or elite college admission drives the national narrative.

    Jon, you’ve reported on the fact that it’s getting easier to get into college and with the demographic cliff coming it’ll only get easier at certain schools, right?

    [Jon] Yeah, not at Princeton and Yale, but despite public perception, and for the first time in decades, acceptance rates at most colleges and universities are going up.

    [Kirk] Where are acceptance rates going up the most?

    [Jon] Well, Bucknell, George Washington, Marquette, Oberlin, Gonzaga, Brigham Young — the list goes on and on. These universities want you to think it’s impossible, or at least hard, to get in. But the fact is, on average, universities are admitting a larger proportion of their applicants than they did 20 years ago. In fact, the median acceptance rate at four-year universities was about 8 percentage points higher in 2022 than it was in 2012.

    [Kirk] Many students think it’s increasingly hard to get into college, and they see the whole process as a mystery. Even as you gather up your transcripts and test scores and then add some final touches on your personal essays, the question remains: Exactly what happens after your application goes out into the unknown? At the college fair in New Jersey, I asked high school juniors Masiambou Saysay and Harmony Roundtree what they think happens behind closed doors.

    [Masiambou Saysay] They just have a lot of applications, they’re like, declined, oh yeah, I don’t know.

    [Harmony Roundtree] I feel like a big pile of letters being stacked on top of each other and you just gotta pick, yeah.

    [Kirk] And what do you think it looks like?

    [Harmony Roundtree] Hmm. Like, a million emails and then, like, three different computers

    [Kirk] I got a glimpse into one of those computers and the black box that is the admissions process — the mystery of who gets in, the secrets of what really matters. After I reached out to a bunch of schools, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester agreed to give me access and a behind-the-scenes look at the admissions processes. Full disclosure, Jon, I’m a graduate of Holy Cross.

    [Jon] Oh, really, Kirk? You never mention it. So the only school that would let you in is the only school that would allow you to observe the process?

    [Kirk] That’s pretty much how this went down. The college let me sit in on one early decision committee meeting. Behind closed doors, inside a tiny conference room, I saw how the process historically went down.

    [Woman’s voice] Nice program, good testing.

    [Man’s voice] Yeah, a lot to like.

    [Woman’s voice] People like him?

    [Kirk] What’s most surprising is how quickly the committee reviews the candidates, spending about two minutes on each before deciding whether to accept, hold, or deny. To speed things along, the committee uses a lot of jargon, like LBB — that’s ‘late blooming boy’ — and RJ for ‘rejection.’

    [Woman’s voice] Academically has everything. I wonder if a counselor call might be enlightening.

    [Woman’s voice] I mean, honestly, it sounds like maybe he could work on it or be cognizant of it. I mean I don’t know, and he’s strong academically, I think he’s okay.

    [Man’s voice] I think his classmates would bring him down to reality.

    [Jon] Kirk, that’s just one small private college. So to get a broader sense of the admissions landscape and how it’s changing, we reached out to Jeff Selingo.

    [Kirk] Yes, Selingo teaches higher ed leadership at Arizona State University, and he’s author of the book Who Gets In and Why. For his research, he spent a year inside three college admissions offices at Emory in Atlanta, Davidson in North Carolina, and the University of Washington in Seattle. So I asked him, how did he end up at those schools?

    [Jeff Selingo] In some ways, it’s a lot like admissions. I approached 24 schools and asked them to get inside their admissions process. And most said no. And only three said yes. So it’s kind of like I applied to 24 schools. I only got into three.

    [Kirk] And what do you think people imagine it’s like inside a college admissions office and what’s it actually like?

    [Jeff Selingo] First of all, I think they think that the admissions officers are spending a lot more time with college applications than they really are. Emory had something like 40,000 applications. And so as a result, they’re like looking at these applications sometimes in just a couple of minutes. Probably the most they would take with an application might be 12 or 13 minutes. And meanwhile, you know, these kids are putting their heart and soul into it for years.

    [Kirk] Selingo says the biggest change in the college admissions game is the lack of signals around what it takes to get in. Schools that used to require test scores, for example, have gone test-optional since the pandemic.

    [Jeff Selingo] You know, some colleges have gone back, But that lack of a signal, like, if I got a 1400 or 1300 on the SAT, I kind of knew where that would place me in a class and I would not even apply to most of these schools. But now with test optional, it gave me the opportunity to potentially apply and get in. And so every year now you see just increasing number of applications again to these highly selective schools. And then you hear stories, ‘Oh, I didn’t, you, know, my kid didn’t get in or my cousin didn’t get in,’ and so the following year, kids get really nervous. And what do they do? They apply to not only those same set of schools, but then they apply to five more at the same time. And so you just see this vicious circle that just keeps going around and around again, particularly around these top schools.

    [Kirk] How do you think the demographic cliff and the shortage of 18-year-olds will change this game?

    [Jeff Selingo] I think the competition for student is going to intensify. And so you’re seeing that already. You see programs like direct admission, where students are getting accepted to colleges without even applying. You’re going to see a lot more marketing to students even earlier than they do now, in terms of buying their names and sending them information. The other thing, though, is on the financial aid side. I think the discounts and the merit aid that [colleges] are going to give, I think they’re just going to lean even more into that. And you’re just going to see more and more money flowing to students to try to persuade them to come to school X instead of school Y.

    [Kirk] How else are these colleges handling these seismic shifts, and what’s the tone inside of the admissions office now? Is there a sense of desperation?

    [Jeff Selingo] It’s interesting around enrollment. Even though we’ve known this cliff has been coming forever, admissions is really, like, especially at most of these schools that are tuition dependent and are really enrollment driven, it’s about butts in seats tomorrow, not a year from now. So, I mean, they’re kind of short sighted. They haven’t been doing very much to prepare for this. No, they haven’t, because they basically think ‘I just need to, I need to make this class for next year. I need to come in on budget. I need to. Make enrollment.’ They’re not really worried about two years down the road.

    [Kirk] You mentioned direct admission. What do you make of this trend, and do you think we’ll see more schools and states adopt it?

    [Jeff Selingo]  Oh, I think you will, because there’s something in admissions where everybody kind of follows the leader. I’m a little skeptical of direct admission. Well, what happens when more and more schools adopt direct admissions and suddenly, now, Kirk, you’re getting, instead of, like, one or two direct admissions offers, now you’re get eight or nine, right? Like, how does that really help you, at the end of the day, make a decision, or from the college’s point of view, know who’s really interested and who’s coming?

    [Jon] So Jeff Selingo is pretty skeptical of direct admission. But does it help colleges boost enrollment?

    [Kirk] Well, sometimes, says Jennifer Delaney. She’s the researcher we heard at the top of this episode who looked at the first-in-the-nation program in Idaho.

    [Jennifer Delaney] It’s not always able to move the needle on the enrollment side of things.

    [Kirk] Delaney’s research found direct admission helped to increase full-time undergrad enrollment by at least 4 percent, and it boosted in-state enrollment by at least 8 percent.

    [Jennifer Delaney] Having a bird in the hand in Idaho meant that you stayed in Idaho for school, and you didn’t go out of state.

    [Kirk] And what about low-income students?

    [Jennifer Delaney] Admission isn’t enough. You’ve got to be admitted and be able to pay for it.

    [Kirk] And that’s why more schools are adding direct financial aid offers up front, too.

    [Jon] Kirk, to compete, more and more community and four-year colleges are offering — quote, unquote — free tuition. We have a whole episode about that called “The Real Cost of Free.” You can find it in our second season.

    At Western New England University, Marykate Agnes says she accepted the direct admission offer, but not before she reached out to increase her financial aid award. Agnes was admitted through direct admission, and she also received generous financial

    [Marykate Agnes] I got the $32,000 scholarship, then I got another $2,000 for early action, and then I asked for more money and I got it. So I think I’m paying around $10,000. I think that it’s just an awesome thing, and it takes stress off of the students.

    [Jon] Agnes says she doesn’t worry about attending a less selective school.

    [Marykate Agnes] I don’t think it reflects the value of the education at all. I mean, at the end of the semester, I have more work than my friends at more selective schools do, and it’s harder, more rigorous, and the professors are absolutely amazing, and it is so personable. And I think that’s what you’re not getting at the more selective schools.

    [Kirk] All of this change is putting pressure on colleges to develop a strategy. That’s where people like Kathy Ruby come in. She works with colleges to shape financial aid strategies to help them compete with other schools for students.

    [Kathy Ruby] It’s a competitive market, and it’s going to get more competitive depending on where you are and the type of institution you are. I think not all institutions will experience the cliff in the same way.

    [Kirk] Ruby says families are more cost-conscious than ever. Students and parents are more averse to debt, so schools are trying to make themselves seem cheaper. The goal is to attract middle-income families who don’t qualify for federal and state but also don’t have the means to pay the full price.

    [Kathy Ruby] Certainly institutions are starting to focus on what can we do for those middle students, because that also can often be a good place to build. But it can be more expensive for the institution, because there’s no federal dollars to help.

    [Kirk] Schools are focusing on scholarships that are offered up front and meet more students’ financial needs. Ruby’s advice to students and families? Shape a college list with your reach, target and safety schools, but also understand what that means for you.

    [Kathy Ruby] Because if you’re a very bright student and your likely schools might be actually still pretty selective and not offer much in the way of merit aid, you have to do your homework on understanding what the college actually offers. Use their website, use their net price calculator, talk to people.

    [Jon] And, as we always say on this podcast, ask questions and understand what your financial aid package might look like, even if you can’t get an exact figure.

    [Kirk] The reality is there are tons of solid schools and programs out there. So try not to worry so much about that bumper sticker on the back of your neighbor’s SUV. And remember, getting into those bumper-sticker schools is often not about you. It’s about the college’s agenda. Factors like building a class, budgets and yield. You know, whether a student will even enroll if they’re accepted. Students and parents have a lot to gain if they change their perspective on what really qualifies as a quote,unquote good college.

    [Jon] That’s right, Kirk. It’s easy to think a degree from a selective institution is the best insurance policy you can buy for your kid’s future. And if they’re not accepted, they’ll end up on the wrong side of this country’s economic divide.

    But as we approach the demographic cliff, in many ways, that is simply not true. For many students, it’s a buyer’s market now.

    [Kirk] This is College Uncovered. I’m Kirk Carapezza from GBH. …

    [Jon] … and I’m Jon Marcus from the Hechinger Report.

    [Kirk] This episode was produced and written by Jon Marcus …

    [Jon] … and Kirk Carapezza, and it was edited by Jonathan A. Davis.

    Our executive editor is Jennifer McKim.

    [Kirk] Our fact checker is Ryan Alderman.

    Mixing and sound design by David Goodman and Gary Mott.

    All of our music is by college bands. Our theme song and original music is by Left Roman out of MIT.

    The demographic cliff was set to sound for us by James Trayford of the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth in England.

    Mei He is our project manager. And head of GBH Podcasts is Devin Maverick Robbins.

    [Jon] College Uncovered is made possible by Lumina Foundation. It’s produced by GBH News and The Hechinger Report, and distributed by PRX.

    Thanks so much for listening.

    More information about the topics covered in this episode:

    Learn more about direct admission here.

    See what colleges and universities have direct admission through the Common App.

    College Uncovered: The Real Cost of Free

    A trend colleges might not want applicants to notice: It’s becoming easier to get in

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • College Uncovered: The Demographic Cliff

    College Uncovered: The Demographic Cliff

    Most Americans would probably rather forget the Great Recession that began in 2007. But as long ago as it may seem, it triggered something that is about to become a big problem: Americans started having fewer babies, and the birth rate hasn’t recovered since.

    That means a looming decline in the number if 18-year-olds. Since those are the traditional customers for universities and colleges, enrollment is projected to fall dramatically and campuses to close.

    In this episode, we tell you the surprising benefits of this for students and their parents — and the scary prospects for the economy, which will suffer shortages of workers just as baby boomers retire.

    Brody Scully is a high school student looking at colleges. “There’s a lot of pressure on me. I have to decide in these next two years that I’ve got to go to a specific college,” he says.

    Come with us to a college fair where recruiters line up to compete for applicants, and hear from enrollment consultants, economists, and the president of a school that has already closed.

    Listen to the whole series

    TRANSCRIPT

    [Kirk] This is College Uncovered. I’m Kirk Carapezza.

    [Jon] And I’m Jon Marcus. We’re going to start this brand-new season of the podcast by taking you back to a time most Americans would probably rather forget.

    [Archival news footage] Monday, Sept. 15, 2008. Lehman Brothers files the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, precipitating the global financial crisis. … The Dow tumbled more than 500 points.

    [Jon] What we now call the Great Recession started in 2008, and it left the world’s economy reeling.

    [Archival news footage] More than two million prime mortgages, traditional loans for people with good credit, are now delinquent.

    [Jon] The Great Recession did a lot of damage at the time, but it also caused something else most people haven’t noticed, and that’s about to affect us all.

    [Archival news footage] Birth rates in the USA have dropped to their lowest annual levels in three decades, falling for nearly every group of women. … It changed the game when it comes to job security, and it led many young adults to delay marriage and kids.

    [Jon] People stop having babies during economic downturns. That was a major but almost unseen impact of the Great Recession 18 years ago. And that means we’re about to run out of 18-year-olds. This is being called the demographic cliff.

    Hey Kirk, help me explain the deal with this demographic cliff.

    [Kirk] Yeah, so the demographic cliff is this big dropoff that’s about to hit the number of traditional-age college students. And the reason experts call it a cliff is that the number of students is going to go down, like you’re tumbling down a mountain and it never comes back up, Jon.

    [Jon] The demographic cliff is pretty much the focus of our new season of this podcast. There’s some surprising good news that we’ll tell you about for students and their families, and for the parents of prospective college students. But this demographic cliff is also a big, big problem in ways most Americans don’t realize yet, for colleges and universities — and for economy.

    [Nicole Smith] We are looking ahead down the road to circumstances, dire circumstances where we just can’t fill the jobs that are opening up.

    [Wes Butterfield] We are at the, I’m going to call it the crossroads. You know, we’re at the cross roads for many campuses where they’re going to have to think creatively.

    [Rachel Sederberg] We’re going to see issues across every occupation and every industry. There is going to be no one spared of this pain.

    [Jon] Those are the voices of some experts whose job it’s been to watch this coming crisis. Like the lookouts with binoculars on the deck of the Titanic.

    [Telephone ringing] Pick up, you bastards!

    Yes, what do you see?

    Iceberg! Dead ahead!

    [Jon] So forgive us for the mixed metaphors and come with us as we help you cross these icy seas and this pivotal crossroads. We’ll show you how the demographic cliff will affect you.

    [Kirk] This is College Uncovered, from GBH News and The Hechinger Report, a podcast pulling back the ivy to reveal how colleges really work. I’m Kirk Carapezza with GBH. …

    [Jon] And I’m Jon Marcus of The Hechinger Report.

    [Kirk] Colleges don’t want you to know how they operate, so GBH …

    [Jon] … in collaboration with The Hechinger Report is here to show you.

    [Kirk] In our fourth season, we’ll be looking at the many dramatic ways that college is changing right now and what it all means for you. Today on the podcast: “The Demographic Cliff.”

    [Sound from college fair] Hi, guys, welcome to the college fair. If you’d like a bag…

    [Kirk] To get a sense of what the demographic cliff looks and sounds like on the ground, I went to a national college fair in Edison, New Jersey.

    [Sound from college fair] Students, make sure you have your barcode ready so the colleges can scan your barcodes.

    [Kirk] Inside a massive convention and exposition center in an industrial park, a bunch of juniors and their families anxiously waited in the lobby before passing through turnstiles, and then they mingled with college representatives.

    [Sound from college fair] And do you have one of the scan cards so I can get your information?

    [Kirk] It’s kind of like speed dating, with most of the colleges here selling themselves.

    [Sound from college fair] What’s cool about it is that we’re currently building our brand new college of business building that’s a lot of these that will be the biggest academic building on campus, so honestly your degree is going to work tenfold by the time that you end up coming to FSU.

    [Kirk] There’s rows and rows of colleges. In some of those rows, it seems like there are more colleges than students.

    [Sound from college fair] And we’re 10 minutes from London Heathrow Airport as well, so for international students getting on is great.

    [Kirk] After the initial rush, the crowd thins out and those turnstiles stop turning.

    Welcome to a new era of college admissions.

    As you come to a fair like this, what are you looking for exactly?

    [Brody Scully] I’m looking for environmental sciences and eco-engineering.

    [Kirk] Brody Scully is a junior from West Milford, New Jersey. He says he knows exactly what he wants in a college: someplace where he can be active and maybe ski, and someplace small.

    [Brody Scully] Because I definitely learn where there’s probably a smaller group of people, so I’m looking for that.

    [Kirk] Is it anxiety-inducing for you guys, going through this process?

    [Brody Scully] I would say yeah, definitely, and, like, time intensive.

    [Kirk] Why is it so stressful?

    [Brody Scully] There’s a lot of pressure on me. I have to decide in these next two years that I’ve got to go to a specific college.

    [Kirk] But Brody may be in luck, because in the college admissions game, he was born at the right time: in 2008, just as birth rates in the U.S. started to decline. Remember Jon, that means there will be fewer 18-year-olds applying to college over the next few years. And except at elite schools like Harvard or Stanford and a few dozen other most selective colleges, the odds of getting in are going up. Eight out of 10 applicants to public universities and 7 out of 10 at private colleges are accepted now. That’s nearly 8 percentage points higher than 10 years ago.

    Brody was surprised and thrilled when I told him this. In fact, his eyes widened.

    [Brody Scully] I’m not aware of that at all and I’m kind of happy now that you told me that.

    [Kirk] As the fair winds down, college reps, some standing alone in the back of the convention center, keep smiling, making eye contact, and hoping for just one more student to come by.

    I mean, the reality is, this is a competitive landscape for many colleges, and for students, it’s increasingly a buyer’s market.

    Take Rider University, which is trying really hard to stand out in this sea of schools. Its reps are simply telling potential students what the school is all about. and where it is.

    [Susan Makowski] It is a small private school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, which is about 15 minutes south of Princeton.

    [Kirk] Susan Makowski is director of admissions at Rider, and for the past 20 years, she’s helped organize this fair.

    This seems like organized chaos.

    [Susan Makowski] I think that’s a great way to describe it.

    [Kirk] This year, there are about 300 schools here looking for applicants. Colleges pay about $700 just to rent a booth. They think it’s worth it for a chance to connect with some of the nearly 3,000 registered students. And, of course, to scan their barcodes so they can follow up with endless reminders and marketing materials.

    [Sound from college fair] I think I’m all good, but I’m making some…

    Do you have one of the scans?

    Uh, yes I do.

    [Kirk] This year, Makowski tells me, Rider University is trying something a little different.

    [Susan Makowski] Tonight, to be honest, I’m in New Jersey school at a New Jersey fair. I bought two booths. That’s how I’m standing out physically tonight so that you see that I’m here, right? You can’t miss me.

    [Kirk] So you expanded your footprint.

    [Susan Makowski] Yes, I did.

    [Kirk] You can’t just walk, you can’t blow by you.

    [Susan Makowski] Right, but that’s a selfish thing that I’m choosing to do, because I want to make certain that I can capture as many students Who might not have heard of us or might be really interested in us

    [Kirk] Looking ahead and over the demographic cliff, Makowski tells me she knows things are about to change with fewer applicants.

    [Susan Makowski] I think that’s going to be a natural progression, simply because a cliff is coming.

    [Jon] Kirk, the seeds of this problem for colleges were planted back in 2008.

    [Archival news footage] It was a manic Monday in the financial markets. The Dow tumbled more than 500 points after…

    [Wes Butterfield] We were in a fairly dark place. And, again, that’s impacting us today.

    [Jon] That’s Wes Butterfield. He’s chief of consulting services at Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a consulting firm that helps colleges and universities recruit students.

    [Wes Butterfield] Anytime we reach those types of points in our history, birth rates go down. People just simply stop having babies. People were concerned about whether or not they’d have the resources to be able to start a family. And so those numbers backed off, and it takes a while for us to get to a point where it truly begins to impact us.

    [Jon] The decline in births that started 18 years ago is about to translate into fewer students coming out of high school and enrolling in college. By 2039, there will be 15 percent fewer 18-year-olds per year than there are now.

    The effect of all of this that you and I report about the most, Kirk, is what it will do to colleges and universities. It comes on top of a decline in enrollment that’s already been happening over most of the last 10 years. People have been questioning whether college is worth the high cost, and a relatively strong labor market drew a lot of high school graduates straight into jobs. Emily Wadhwani keeps a close eye on this as a senior director at Fitch Ratings, where she’s the sector lead for education. Fitch rates the financial health of institutions.

    [Emily Wadhwani] We’ve been seeing kind of a trending downward of demand in terms of enrollment, particularly on the undergraduate side. So this is definitely a longer trend that we’re seeing.

    [Jon] The pandemic only made things worse. And now the demographic cliff is here.

    [Emily Wadhwani] Where we are now climbing back out of this post-pandemic recovery period, we see the same challenges that schools were facing prior to the pandemic, only now it’s more pronounced because those demographic trends have only deteriorated since then.

    [Jon] That’s why colleges have started closing. Fitch categorizes the outlook for the higher education sector as deteriorating. Kirk, you and I have been seeing that a lot lately on abandoned campuses of colleges that have closed.

    [Bob Allen] This is sort of a movie-set college campus, and people say that as soon as they essentially walk in the front gate.

    [Kirk] That’s Bob Allen. He was the last president of a 185-year-old Green Mountain College in Vermont before it closed in 2019. By the time I visited the campus, it looked more like a ghost town.

    [Bob Allen] So, yeah, watch yourself on these. They aren’t, see normally all of this would have been cleaned up.

    One of the advantages of a small school is that it really was like an extended family. I knew not all of the students by name, but I knew most, and they knew me. They called me Bob, which was what I would prefer.

    [Kirk] To Allen’s right, the red brick dining hall and dorms. To his left, the empty swimming pool, a ghost-like symbol of dried-up enrollment.

    [Bob Allen] Increasingly students want to go to schools in cities and not rural areas. Poultney is a very tiny Vermont town.

    [Kirk] At the time, Allen told me he preferred to give tours like these when the college was still open.

    [Bob Allen] It was a lot more fun when we had students, all right.

    [Kirk] At its peak, Green Mountain had about 800 students. That was already pretty small. But by the end of the 2010s, there were only a little more than half that many left. So Allen and his board decided that the college had to close.

    [Bob Allen] It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do personally. I spent most of my career building businesses and to take a 185-year-old institution and have to shut it down was really tough.

    The demographics are working against all colleges, but in particular, small rural colleges. It’s tough for surrounding towns when colleges close too. Our payroll just for the college alone was $6 million. It has to, in the end, have an economic impact on the town. You know, some of the businesses had closed even long before we made our announcement.

    [Jon] Kirk, the demographic cliff means there will be a lot more colleges closing. Don’t take it from us. That’s the prediction of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Already, 21 colleges defaulted on their bonds last year, or were at risk of defaulting. That’s way up. Here’s Emily Wadhwani from Fitch.

    [Emily Wadhwani] We’ve seen the closure rate accelerate over the last few years. We expect to see that continue for the next few years. That has tended to be smaller, private, liberal arts, sometimes religiously affiliated schools with perhaps less than a thousand students. I’m generalizing; there are a couple outliers there, but broadly speaking, those are the types of schools that we’ve seen close.

    [Jon] That’s a pretty good list of the kinds of colleges that are in trouble, and consumers need to keep that in mind. No matter what schools you’re considering, you need to do more these days than look at their courses or the athletics program. You need to check out their finances.

    [Emily Wadhwani] The second place I would look is the strength of fundraising, often an indicator of the level of wealth the university has — the capacity to fund scholarships and other aid packages, less reliance on tuition as a primary means of operating revenue.

    [Jon] We’ve talked before in this podcast about how you can see if your college might be in financial trouble. And we’ll post the link to that in the show notes.

    Now, it’s obviously a sad situation when colleges close, for their employees and students and alumni, and for the towns that depend on them. But, Kirk, there are a couple of bright spots if you’re currently a college student or the parent of a college student, or have a child who’s considering college.

    [Kirk] Yeah, Jon, colleges teach this in Econ 101. It’s the simple law of supply and demand. As the number of students is falling, there’s less demand. And as demand goes down, two things are happening. First, most colleges are becoming easier to get into. And second, the price of tuition has actually started falling.

    [Jon] Now, Kirk, let’s be clear: College is still expensive, and to make up for keeping tuition low, colleges with dorms and dining plans are raising the price of food and housing. But increases in tuition are finally dropping when adjusted for inflation, after decades of exceeding the cost of almost everything else that Americans spend money on.

    [Kirk] Exactly, Jon. You’re also likely to be able to negotiate for more financial aid. We gave a lot of advice about this in the first episode of our second season, and we’ll link that in the show notes too.

    [Jon] We’ll have a lot more to tell you about the dramatic changes in admission in our next episode. So check that out.

    [Kirk] So that’s all pretty good news for future students and their families. But there’s more bad news. And not just for colleges, but for the economy and society. There will be fewer graduates coming out the other end with skills employers need, and fewer young people in general available to work in any kinds of jobs.

    [Jon] Right, and all of that, Kirk, is coinciding with the tidal wave of baby boomers who will be retiring at the same time.

    [Rachel Sederberg] We’re already well underway in this process where we saw vast retirements over the last few years.

    [Jon] That’s Rachel Sederberg, a senior economist and director of research at the labor market analytics firm Lightcast. Ten-thousand baby boomers are turning 65 every day. And Sederberg says there just aren’t enough workers coming up behind these retiring baby boomers to fill the jobs they’re leaving.

    [Rachel Sederberg] The generations that follow the baby boomers are simply smaller and cannot mathematically make up for that decline.

    [Jon] These shortages are already happening, Kirk.

    [Rachel Sederberg] We are losing people across every occupation and industry. So we’re going to need more workers across, and we don’t have enough of any kind.

    [Kirk] Okay, to tie this all together for you, we reached out to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. It studies the connection between higher education and the economy. Chief Economist Nicole Smith connected these dots for us.

    [Nicole Smith] So if you’re a college president, one way to look at this is, you know, ‘I don’t have enough students.’ But as an economist, I’m also thinking of the impact on the economy. Young people and young labor and the labor force — it’s the lifeblood of our society.

    [Kirk] Smith says the decline in the number of traditional-aged college students will affect much more than whether a bunch of colleges close.

    [Nicole Smith] We just don’t have enough who are completing and going to college and finishing school at as fast a rate as the economy is creating jobs for people with college degrees.

    [Kirk] She’s not just talking about bachelor’s degrees, but all kinds of education after high school, including in manufacturing and the trades.

    [Nicole Smith] Seventy-two percent of all jobs over the next decade will require some type of education and training beyond high school. So even if you don’t need a full bachelor’s, we need something that’s beyond high school and everyone has to be prepared to go back to get that credential so that you are prepared for that particular job.

    [Kirk] So we’re all going to be falling down the demographic cliff together. In some parts of the country, labor shortages are already well underway.

    [Nicole Smith] Many communities are facing this already. Rural communities are already having problems filling vacancies for some of their medical fields. They’re offering all sorts of incentives for doctors to come and work in those locations. So we’re already there.

    [Jon] Kirk, as our experts have said, this demographic cliff is a dramatic turning point for higher education and it comes alongside questions about the value of college and a general decline in the proportion of high school students who are bothering to go.

    [Kirk] Right, Jon, and that’s on top of huge political pressure on colleges and universities under the Trump administration and massive funding cuts.

    [Jon] Throughout this season of the podcast, we’ll be looking at the ramifications of this unprecedented moment in the history of higher education. We’ll tell you how admissions is changing, why men in particular aren’t going to college, and the many new ways that are popping up, other than college, to train people for the workforce. and there’s much more.

    [Kirk] So keep listening to future episodes to hear more about what colleges and universities don’t teach you in class.

    This is College Uncovered. I’m Kirk Carapezza from GBH.

    [Jon] And I’m Jon Marcus from The Hechinger Report.

    [Kirk] This episode was produced and written by Jon Marcus …

    [Jon] … and Kirk Carapezza, and it was edited by Jonathan A. Davis. Our executive editor is Jennifer McKim.

    [Kirk] Our fact-checker is Ryan Alderman

    Mixing and sound design by David Goodman and Gary Mott. All of our music is by college bands. Our theme song and original music is by Left Roman out of MIT. We also used some music in this episode from the Stony Brook University Orchestra.

    The demographic cliff was set to sound for us by James Trayford of the Institute of Cosmology and Gravitation at the University of Portsmouth in England.

    Mei He is our project manager and head of GBH podcasts is Devin Maverick Robbins.

    [Jon] College Uncovered is made possible by Lumina Foundation. It’s produced by GBH News and The Hechinger Report, and distributed by PRX.

    Thanks so much for listening.

    More information about the topics covered in this episode:

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • Leading in complexity: Are higher education leaders ready for the age of austerity?

    Leading in complexity: Are higher education leaders ready for the age of austerity?

    by Robert Perich, Ladina Rageth, Danya He and Maryna Lakhno

    Higher education is at a crossroads. Across Europe and beyond, higher education institutions (HEIs) face increasing financial constraints, shifting political landscapes, and the growing challenge of digital transformation. In this turbulent environment, leadership is not just about managing institutions – it is about navigating uncertainty and ensuring that HEIs remain resilient, innovative, and globally competitive.

    Yet, are higher education leaders equipped for this challenge? A recent Swiss national study of senior leaders (detailed findings are available here) provides a reality check. Our study, the first of its kind in Switzerland, examined the career trajectories, competency sets, and strategic concerns of 312 leaders from 38 institutions. What it uncovered was both revealing and troubling: senior leaders felt largely unprepared for the mounting financial and structural pressures facing higher education.

    HEIs are no longer just institutions of knowledge – they are complex organisations requiring financial stewardship, strategic foresight, and the ability to manage significant institutional change. And yet, many senior leaders step into their roles with little to no formal management training. In a period where every budget decision can mean the difference between institutional sustainability and decline, this skills gap is more than an inconvenience – it is a challenge.

    Who runs Swiss HEIs today?

    The study reveals a leadership demographic that is surprisingly homogeneous. Despite years of diversity initiatives, Swiss HEI leadership remains overwhelmingly male (68%) and Swiss (80%). The average senior leader is in their mid-50s, has spent nearly 14 years at their institution, and was more likely than not promoted from within. Internal hires outnumber external appointments (55% vs 45%), and critically, almost 40% of senior leaders entered their positions without prior general management experience.

    This reliance on internal promotion, while preserving institutional knowledge, raises an uncomfortable question: Are HEIs prioritising academic credentials and institutional loyalty over strategic and managerial competence? As budget cuts tighten and HEIs are forced to make hard choices, is it enough for leaders to understand academic culture, or must they also master the art of institutional strategy and financial sustainability?

    The gap: what competencies do leaders need – and what are they lacking?

    Swiss HEIs, like their counterparts worldwide, are complex ecosystems requiring a balance of academic credibility and managerial acumen. Yet, when surveyed, senior leaders overwhelmingly ranked leadership and strategic design capabilities as the most essential competencies, both of which require years of cultivation. They also emphasised managing organisational change, a competency that will become even more critical as institutions face increasing financial pressures and demands for efficiency.

    The study highlights a concerning discrepancy between the skills leaders find most important and those in which they feel prepared. Many respondents wished they had received more targeted training in financial management, change leadership, and navigating the political landscape of higher education. Given that nearly half of respondents had never participated in formal leadership training before assuming their roles, it is clear that HEIs have largely relied on a ‘learn on the job’ approach to leadership development.

    The perils of academic self-governance

    One of the study’s most compelling findings is the tension between traditional academic self-governance and the need for growing professionalisation of higher education leadership. Research universities, in particular, still operate on a model where deans and department heads rotate through leadership roles while maintaining their academic careers. While this system ensures academic legitimacy, it creates discontinuity and limits long-term strategic vision.

    By contrast, universities of applied sciences, where leadership positions are more commonly filled through open application processes, exhibit a different pattern: leaders tend to have more professional experience and stronger management backgrounds. This divergence begs an essential question: Is the tradition of academic self-governance still fit for purpose in an era that demands more decisive, financially savvy and agile leadership?

    Budget cuts and the leadership challenge ahead

    Financial sustainability is now the defining challenge of higher education leadership. The study underscores that senior leaders see budget constraints as the most pressing issue their institutions face, followed closely by digital transformation and the rising demand for research excellence and collaboration. While leaders anticipate increasing demands in these areas over the next decade, many institutions lack systematic training programmes to equip their leaders for these challenges. The findings suggest that without structured leadership development – particularly in financial strategy, political negotiation, and crisis management – HEIs risk falling into reactive rather than proactive decision-making.

    Rethinking leadership development in higher education

    The data from Swiss HEIs mirror trends seen globally: while the challenges facing HEIs have evolved dramatically, leadership preparation has remained largely static. The fact that nearly 40% of leaders entered their roles with no formal management experience is a stark indicator that institutions must do more to develop leadership talent early in academic careers.

    Structured executive education programmes, mentorship initiatives, and cross-institutional leadership networks are critical. The study also raises the question of whether Switzerland – and other countries – should consider national leadership training programmes, similar to those in the Netherlands and Sweden, to systematically equip future leaders with the skills they need.

    Indeed, other countries have already taken significant steps in this direction. For instance, the UK has developed a comprehensive suite of leadership development programmes through Advance HE, targeting leaders at various career stages across the higher education sector. Such initiatives provide a valuable model for how leadership can be systematically cultivated, and they underscore the importance of moving beyond ad hoc, institution-specific training efforts.

    The future of higher education leadership: a critical juncture

    HEIs are facing a defining moment. Financial constraints, political pressures, and the complexities of global education demand leaders who are not just respected scholars but also strategic visionaries. The findings from our study highlight the urgent need for HEIs to rethink how they identify, train, and support their leaders. Will higher education rise to this challenge? Or will institutions continue to rely on traditional models of leadership selection, hoping that academic merits alone will make their leaders fit for the complexities ahead?

    Prof Dr Robert Perich is Academic Director, Swiss School of Public Governance SSPG, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich. He was CFO of ETH Zurich for 20 years and, as Vice President for Finance and Controlling, was responsible for financial strategy, budget management, asset management, risk management and the digitalisation of central processes. After completing his studies and doctorate at the University of St. Gallen (HSG), he gained 12 years of experience in various management roles at a major Swiss bank. In addition to earlier teaching activities at the University of St. Gallen, he currently lectures at D-MTEC and the University of Zurich (CHESS). He is also Deputy Chairman of the University Council of the University of Cologne.

    Dr Ladina Rageth is Executive Director, Swiss School of Public Governance SSPG, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich. She is a social scientist with extensive experience in research and project management in the academic, public and private sectors. She completed her Master’s degree in Sociology at the University of Zurich and her PhD at ETH Zurich at the Chair of Educational Systems. Her research focuses on the sociology of education, labour market outcomes and the institutionalisation of education systems, with a current emphasis on the functioning and management of HEIs.

    Danya He is Research Assistant, Swiss School of Public Governance SSPG, D-MTEC, ETH Zurich. She completed her Masters in Media and Communication Governance at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) and worked as a research and teaching associate at the University of Zurich specialising in media and internet governance before joining the SSPG. She brings a wealth of experience in public institutions, media relations and legal affairs and has been recognised for her achievements in educational simulations such as the National Model United Nations.

    Dr Maryna Lakhno is the Programme Coordinator at the ETH Swiss School of Public Governance (SSPG), where she manages the school’s continuing education portfolio and oversees its communication. Maryna also contributes to the design of the curriculum and programme activities and is actively involved in research projects within the school. Her doctorate in Public Policy under the Yehuda Elkana Doctoral Fellowship at Central European University in Vienna focused on integrating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals within higher education. She was awarded the Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship for Foreign Scholars in 2022/23. She co-authored a comprehensive report for the Global Observatory on Academic Freedom.

    Author: SRHE News Blog

    An international learned society, concerned with supporting research and researchers into Higher Education

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  • Tuskegee University – Edu Alliance Journal

    Tuskegee University – Edu Alliance Journal

    April 14, 2025, by Dean Hoke: This profile of Tuskegee University is the ninth in a series presenting small colleges throughout the United States.

    Background

    Founded in 1881 by educator Booker T. Washington, Tuskegee University is a private historically black university (HBCU) located in Tuskegee, Alabama – about 40 miles east of Montgomery​ . Established initially as the Tuskegee Normal School for training Black teachers, it evolved into Tuskegee Institute and eventually a university known for blending liberal arts, technical, and professional education. The university’s campus, a designated National Historic Site, spans roughly 5,000 acres (including a 450-acre main campus and extensive forestry and research lands)​. Tuskegee is consistently ranked among the top HBCUs nationally (U.S. News #3 in 2023) and is noted for its academic rigor and legacy of producing African American leaders​.

    Curricula

    Tuskegee offers a broad curriculum encompassing over 50 degree programs​. Programs include Engineering, Architecture, Business, Education, and Nursing & Allied Health, as well as a renowned College of Veterinary Medicine​. The university balances a liberal arts foundation with strong STEM and professional programs. Students complete a liberal arts core while pursuing majors in fields like engineering, agriculture, the sciences, business, and the humanities. Tuskegee has introduced distinctive programs that leverage its heritage – for example, it hosts the nation’s only Aerospace Engineering program at an HBCU, and it houses a National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care focused on minority health ethics​.

    Experiential learning is integral: from engineering design projects to agricultural research and Cooperative Extension outreach in rural communities, students get hands-on training. Notably, Tuskegee’s veterinary medicine program, founded in 1945, provides crucial clinical experience and has become a top producer of minority veterinarians. Outcomes for graduates are strong in many programs – for example, nursing and allied health majors benefit from clinical partnerships, and engineering students often secure competitive internships. Tuskegee reports in 2022, the four-year graduation rate is 33%, and the six-year graduation rate is 67%​​.

    Strengths

    • Historic Legacy and Mission: Tuskegee’s history is a cornerstone of its identity. It was built on Booker T. Washington’s self-help philosophy and has played a pivotal role in African American education for over a century​.
    • Excellence in STEM, Agriculture, and Veterinary Medicine: The university is a powerhouse in STEM fields. It is the only independent HBCU with four ABET-accredited engineering programs​ and the only HBCU with an Aerospace Science Engineering program​. Its College of Veterinary Medicine has educated over 70% of African American veterinarians in the United States​​.
    • Strong Student Outcomes and Recognition: Tuskegee is recognized for improving social mobility and student success. U.S. News ranks Tuskegee #1 among Southern schools for social mobility and among the top 5 HBCUs nationwide. The university has produced generations of leaders and pioneers, which bolsters its reputation and provides current students with role models and mentors.
    • Community Engagement and Service: As a land-grant institution, Tuskegee is deeply committed to community service and outreach. Through its Cooperative Extension Program and initiatives like the new Center for Rural Health and Economic Equity, the university addresses needs in Alabama’s Black Belt region—from agricultural assistance for local farmers to health equity research for underserved rural populations​​.

    Weaknesses

    • Enrollment Decline: Tuskegee’s Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) enrollment has steadily decreased from 3,276 in 2019 to a low of 2,755 in 2023, with a modest rebound to 2,881 in 2024. This downward trend, though not unique among small institutions, negatively impacts tuition revenue, national rankings, and institutional perception.
    • Infrastructure and Facilities: Numerous campus buildings require modernization. Students and alumni on platforms like UNIGO have expressed concerns about aging dormitories and outdated lab and classroom technology. These issues pose challenges for student recruitment and retention, especially in STEM disciplines. The university acknowledged these concerns in 2024 and stated that actions are underway to address construction delays.
    • Return on Investment (ROI): According to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce, Tuskegee’s 40-year ROI for bachelor’s degrees is $1,434,000—well below the national average of $1,744,000 for private institutions. This places Tuskegee in the lower 20th percentile nationally and may raise concerns among prospective students and families weighing the long-term value of a Tuskegee degree.

    Note: Tuskegee does an exceptional job with the students it serves, often outperforming peers in helping students succeed and move up economically. However, its graduates’ average earnings are lower than those of graduates from many other private institutions, which affects ROI rankings. This contrast is common among mission-driven institutions that serve high-need populations and public interest-oriented fields (e.g., education, social work, veterinary medicine), where average salaries tend to be lower despite high societal value.

    Economic Impact

    Tuskegee University is a major economic engine for its region. According to the United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) 2024 Economic Impact Report, Tuskegee University contributes approximately $237.1 million annually to Alabama’s economy and supports 2,064 jobs statewide through its operations, payroll, student spending, and visitor expenditures. It is one of the largest employers in Macon County, with nearly 1,400 employees on payroll​, and its presence stimulates additional employment in the community (restaurants, shops, services that cater to students and employees).

    Beyond direct spending, as a land-grant institution, it operates Cooperative Extension programs that improve agricultural productivity and entrepreneurship in rural Alabama. The university actively pursues research grants that address local needs. For example, in 2023, Tuskegee received a $2.2 million federal grant to establish a Center for Rural Health and Economic Equity, which will not only improve healthcare outcomes in Black Belt counties but also create research jobs and community health worker positions​.

    Enrollment Trends

    As of Fall 2024, total enrollment (FTE) is 2881 students, including undergraduates, graduate students, and professional students in veterinary medicine​.

    The university has actively recruited beyond Alabama: currently, only 26% of undergraduates are Alabama residents, while 74% come from out-of-state​.

    Degrees Awarded by Major

    In the 2022–23 academic year, Tuskegee University conferred 547 degrees in total (410 bachelor’s, 69 master’s, and 68 doctorates, including professional degrees)​.

    Alumni

    Tuskegee University boasts a vibrant alumni network of tens of thousands of graduates spread across the U.S. and abroad. With nearly 140 years of history, Tuskegee has produced generations of African American professionals and leaders, creating an expansive community often referred to as the “Tuskegee Family.” Alumni remain closely connected to the university and each other.

    Notable Alumni and Figures: Tuskegee’s alumni and associated figures include some of the most influential names in U.S. education, science, military, and culture:

    • Amelia Boynton Robinson (Class of 1927): Pioneering civil rights activist and leader in the voting rights movement. She played a key role in the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches, inviting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Selma.
    • Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James (Class of 1942): The first African American four-star general in U.S. military history.
    • Lonnie Johnson (Class of 1973): Engineer and inventor, Johnson, a Tuskegee mechanical engineering graduate​, had a distinguished career at the Air Force and NASA before his entrepreneurial success. He holds over 100 patents.
    • Lionel Richie (Class of 1974): Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and former lead vocalist of the Commodores. Richie, a Tuskegee native, graduated with an economics degree.
    • Keenen Ivory Wayans (Attended from 1977-1980): an American actor, comedian, director, and filmmaker who co-hosted and created the TV comedy Emmy award show In Living Color. An engineering student on scholarship, he left Tuskegee in his senior year to pursue acting.

    Endowment and Financial Standing

    Tuskegee University’s financial foundation is solid but underpins a careful stewardship to meet institutional needs. As of 2024, the university’s endowment is valued at around $161 million.​ It remains smaller than some peer HBCUs. The university still depends heavily on tuition and fees.​ A milestone came in 2020 when philanthropist MacKenzie Scott donated $20 million to Tuskegee – the largest gift in the university’s history​.

    The university’s financial management has earned positive marks. The 2023 Forbes Financial Grades gives Tuskegee a 3.82 GPA and a letter grade of A-.

    Why is Tuskegee Important?

    • Tuskegee University holds a singular place in American higher education and society, with a legacy and ongoing impact that extend far beyond its small-town Alabama campus. Founded in an era of segregation and limited opportunities for Black Americans, Tuskegee became a beacon of self-determination – educating Black teachers, farmers, and craftsmen in its early years and proving that excellence could flourish under the most challenging conditions.
    • Tuskegee’s importance also lies in its academic and professional contributions, particularly in increasing diversity in critical fields. It has been a prolific producer of African American professionals: for example, as noted, the vast majority of Black veterinarians are Tuskegee graduates​, and the university has trained countless Black engineers, nurses, and scientists.
    • Tuskegee University remains a cultural touchstone and symbol of excellence. Tuskegee has also influenced educational models worldwide; notably, its extension work and vocational training approaches were emulated in developing nations (especially in Africa) during the 20th century, spreading the ethos of education for empowerment globally.

    In summary, Tuskegee University is important because it represents the power of education as a force for equality and innovation. It has transformed lives and communities for generations, contributed richly to African American history and American progress, and continues to produce leaders and ideas that shape our world. In American higher education, Tuskegee’s thread is unique and invaluable – an embodiment of resilience, excellence, and the ongoing pursuit of knowledge for the betterment of society.

    Dean Hoke is Managing Partner of Edu Alliance Group, a higher education consultancy, and a Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute. He formerly served as President/CEO of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA). With decades of experience in higher education leadership, consulting, and institutional strategy, he brings a wealth of knowledge on small colleges’ challenges and opportunities. Dean, along with Kent Barnds, is a co-host for the podcast series Small College America. 

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  • Enrollment Strategies for Moving Students through the Funnel

    Enrollment Strategies for Moving Students through the Funnel

    Strategies for Each Stage of the Enrollment Journey

    Higher education institutions face many challenges in their efforts to engage with potential students and keep them motivated while they navigate the enrollment process. In a 2024 Lumina Foundation/Gallup survey on the state of higher education, prospective adult students cited cost, work conflicts, emotional stress, and lack of remote learning opportunities as their top barriers to enrolling in a college program. 

    Institutions and enrollment teams have the unique opportunity to support students on their journey through each stage of the enrollment funnel — awareness, interest, consideration, intent, application, and enrollment — to help them achieve their goals. 

    To learn more, check out the infographic below, created by the Higher Education Marketing Journal.

    Stage 1: Awareness

    In the first stage of the enrollment funnel, prospective students search for colleges and universities and find out about the different programs they offer. The challenge that universities face during this stage is: How do we reach as many potential students as possible?

    Prospective students learn about institutions in the following ways:

    1. College and university websites
    2. Emails from schools
    3. Videos 
    4. Printed brochures
    5. Financial aid and scholarship calculators
    6. Marketing campaigns

    According to a recent survey of prospective students, 83% find videos from colleges and universities helpful, 79% find virtual tours helpful, and 63% have clicked on a college’s digital ad.

    Universities can use the following strategies to reach potential students:

    • Use a mix of digital and traditional marketing. Digital tactics include social media ads, blog content, and search engine optimization (SEO), while traditional methods include college fairs, in-person events, direct mail, and phone calls.
    • Personalize your tactics. Recent high school graduates may prefer text messages and emails, while adult students may prefer phone calls. 

    Stage 2: Interest

    In the next stage, also known as the familiarity stage, students narrow their focus and move closer to deciding which program is right for them. Universities face this challenge during the interest stage: How do we stand out among the competition and promote our institution’s brand?

    Strategies to stand out include the following:

    • Promote your brand. Use strategic marketing strategies to emphasize the unique value propositions (UVPs) and benefits of earning a degree at your institution.
    • Provide informative content. Anticipate your audience’s questions by describing how a degree can benefit their life and help them reach their career goals. Tactics include career-focused blog articles, informational webinars, and customized emails.

    Stage 3: Consideration

    At this stage, students have several options and may now take the time to reach out to the institutions they’re interested in to get more information before they make their decision. By engaging directly with students, colleges and enrollment teams can build relationships with them and establish trust. 

    Universities at this stage wonder: How do we build trust and encourage prospective students to enroll?

    To build trust with prospective students, universities should employ tactics such as the following:

    • Maintain one-on-one communication. Admissions counselors can contact students directly via emails, phone calls, or video meetings to answer their specific questions and address any issues they may have on topics such as financial aid opportunities, program lengths and delivery formats, and support services. Adult students may prefer adult-specific messaging that relates to their lives, such as information about work-life-school balance, family-centered goals, and increased earning potential.
    • Connect students with faculty and alumni. Virtual Q&A sessions give students an opportunity to meet professors and faculty face-to-face and hear about the real experiences of current and former students.
    • Provide materials and resources. Be prepared to answer questions about credit hours and course descriptions, and to provide any other information that can help them make their decision.

    Stage 4: Intent

    In this stage, sometimes known as the choice stage, prospective students are very close to making a decision. Enrollment teams need to be ready and available to help them take the necessary steps to enroll. 

    These teams have the following challenge questions to solve: How do we continue to keep students engaged? What other information and encouragement can we provide?

    Over 14,000 prospective adult students who responded to the 2024 Lumina/Gallup survey ranked their reasons for not enrolling in a college program. The following challenges were flagged as very important or moderately important:

    • Cost: 85%
    • Work conflicts: 77%
    • Emotional stress: 72%
    • Program length (too long): 72%
    • Favorable job market: 71%
    • Lack of remote learning: 68%
    • Personal mental health reasons: 64%
    • Degree/credential not needed for job: 62%
    • Unprepared academically: 58%
    • Getting accepted: 56%
    • Personal physical health reasons: 55%
    • Lack of value in further education: 52%
    • Child care/adult family care: 47% 
    • Degree doesn’t fit with personal beliefs: 47% 

    Universities can employ strategies such as the following:

    • Continue personal engagement. As students come closer to making a decision, they may have more detailed concerns about costs, financial aid, and program specifics, so it’s important to check in and be available to answer any new questions.
    • Create urgency. Remind students about upcoming deadlines for enrollment and financial aid applications.
    • Provide incentives. Offer application fee waivers and other benefits for early application.

    Stage 5: Application

    At this stage, students have made their decision and are ready to apply to the institution. This is a big step for students who may need help submitting documents and fulfilling admission requirements.

    The challenge universities face involves this question: What can we do to ease the application process?

    Schools can employ strategies such as the following:

    • Check in regularly. Streamline the application process, and provide reminders of important dates and deadlines.
    • Create a help desk. Provide resources, application checklists, and video guides to students, and help them locate any missing or remaining information. 
    • Encourage and motivate. Send positive messages to students letting them know they’re near the finish line.

    Stage 6: Enrollment

    In the last stage, students complete their registration and begin the orientation process. Admissions advisors at this stage must keep students engaged and set them up for success. Students will choose classes, buy books, and meet teachers and other students, while also making decisions about how to manage their other life obligations while they are in school.

    The challenge question for universities: How can we provide support and promote retention?

    These schools can benefit from strategies such as the following:

    • Provide guidance and resources. Support students through the registration process, help them create manageable course loads, prepare them with the resources they need to succeed, and help them create long-term plans with the goal of graduating.
    • Analyze and evaluate enrollment process successes. Gather feedback from students and parents, analyze data, and make improvements to each stage of the enrollment process. 

    Create Enrollment Strategies to Support the Student Journey

    Enrollment teams not only help students choose the best program to reach their goals, they also support them throughout the enrollment and admissions process to ensure their success through graduation.

    Sources 

    The Council of Independent Colleges, 2023 E-Expectations Trend Report

    Lumina Foundation, The State of Higher Education 2024

    Lumina Foundation, From Outreach to Enrollment: Strategies to Engage Adults in Education Beyond High School 

    Modern Campus, “How To Optimize The Enrollment Funnel & Increase Matriculation”

    Higher Education Marketing, Essential Admissions Funnel Best Practices For Schools

    Higher Education Marketing Journal, “Enrollment Funnel: Tips for the Student Journey”

    Subscribe to the Higher Ed Marketing Journal:

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  • Alabama high school requirements now allow students to trade chemistry for carpentry

    Alabama high school requirements now allow students to trade chemistry for carpentry

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In a corner of Huffman High School, the sounds of popping nail guns and whirring table saws fill the architecture and construction classroom.

    Down the hall, culinary students chop and saute in the school’s commercial kitchen, and in another room, cosmetology students snip mannequin hair to prepare for the state’s natural hair stylist license.

    Starting this fall, Alabama high school students can choose to take these classes — or any other state-approved career and technical education courses — in place of upper level math and science, such as Algebra 2 or chemistry.

    Alabama state law previously required students to take at least four years each of English, math, science and social studies to graduate from high school. The state is now calling that track the “Option A” diploma. The new “Option B” workforce diploma allows students to replace two math and two science classes with a sequence of three CTE courses of their choosing. The CTE courses do not have to be related to math or science, but they do have to be in the same career cluster. Already, more than 70 percent of Alabama high school students take at least one CTE class, according to the state’s Office of Career and Technical Education/Workforce Development.

    The workforce diploma will give students more opportunities to get the kind of skills that can lead to jobs right after high school, legislators said. But there’s a cost: Many universities, including the state’s flagship University of Alabama, require at least three math credits for admission. The workforce diploma would make it more difficult for students on that track to get into those colleges.

    The law passed in 2024 alongside a spate of bills aimed at boosting the state’s labor participation rate, which at 58 percent as of January remained below the national rate of 63 percent. Simply put, Alabama wants to get more of its residents working.

    Alabama is giving high school students a new pathway to a high school diploma: fewer math and science classes in exchange for more career and technical education courses. Credit: Tamika Moore for The Hechinger Report

    The new diploma option also comes at a time when public perception of college is souring: Only 36 percent of U.S. adults have a lot of confidence in higher education, according to a 2024 Gallup poll. Just 43 percent of Alabama high schoolers who graduated in 2023 enrolled in one of the state’s public colleges the following fall.

    “The world of higher education is at a crossroads,” said Amy Lloyd, executive director of the education advocacy nonprofit All4Ed and former assistant secretary for the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education at the U.S. Department of Education. “Americans are questioning the value of the return on their investment: Is it worth my money? Is it worth my time?”

    Related: A lot goes on in classrooms from kindergarten to high school. Keep up with our free newsletter on K-12 education.

    One recent afternoon in Huffman High School’s architecture class, a few students in bright yellow safety vests were measuring a wall they had built. At the end of the semester, the project will culminate in a tiny home.

    Lucas Giles, a senior, started taking architecture his sophomore year as a way to “be able to fix things around the home without having to call other people,” he said. The new workforce diploma option won’t apply to him since he’s graduating this year, but he said he likely would have opted for it to fit more architecture classes into his schedule — that is, until he learned it would make it harder for him to attend college and study engineering.

    “I wouldn’t have the credits,” Giles realized.

    Students who earn a workforce diploma and end up wanting to go to college after all can enroll in community colleges, or aim for state colleges that have less stringent admissions requirements, said Alabama education chief Eric Mackey. The key to the new diploma will be ensuring school counselors are properly advising students, he added.

    “That’s where the counselor comes in and says, ‘If you want to be a nurse, then yes, you need the practical stuff at the career tech center — taking blood pressure and trauma support — but you also need to be taking biology, physiology, chemistry and all those things, too,’” Mackey said.

    Because the diploma only makes sense for a specific subset of students — those who do not plan to go to a four-year college that requires more math or science and who cannot otherwise fit CTE classes in their schedule — counselors have a huge role to play in guiding students. As of 2023, there were 405 students for every counselor in Alabama’s public schools, well over the recommended ratio of 250 to 1.

    Mackey said the state added career coaches in recent years to ease the counseling workload, but in many districts there is just a single coach, who rotates among schools.

    Samantha Williams, executive director of the nonprofit Birmingham Promise, fears the workforce diploma may shut off students’ options too early. Birmingham Promise helps students in Birmingham City Schools pay college tuition and connects them to internship opportunities while in high school.

    “Do you really think that all of our school districts are preparing students to know what they want to do” by the time they’re in high school, Williams asked.

    Williams also worries that lower-performing students might be steered to this diploma option in order to boost their schools’ rankings.

    Students who opt for the workforce diploma will not have their ACT test scores included in their schools’ public reports. Legislators decided that schools should not have to report standardized test scores for students who did not have to take the requisite math and science classes.

    “The concern a lot of people voiced was ‘Hey, isn’t everyone just going to place the kids who are underperforming in the workforce diploma so their ACT scores don’t bring down the whole?’” Williams said. “There’s a strong perverse incentive for people to do that.”

    Speaking to the state’s Board of Education last fall, Mackey warned the “furor of the state superintendent will come down on” anyone who tries to redirect students toward the workforce diploma because of low ACT scores.

    Related: What happened when a South Carolina city embraced career education for all its students

    At Headland High School in rural Henry County, Alabama, every student takes at least one CTE course, according to Principal Brent Maloy. The most popular classes, he said, are financial management and family consumer science.

    “We don’t force them in — everybody registers themselves, they pick their own classes,” Maloy said. “But there’s just about a zero percent chance that a kid’s not going to have a career tech class when they graduate.”

    The school has hosted information sessions for parents and students about the new diploma option ahead of next school year. In a poll of rising juniors and seniors, 20 percent said they would like to pursue a workforce diploma, and another 30 percent said they might be interested. Maloy is anticipating about 25 percent of students will actually opt in to the pathway.

    Most graduates of Headland enroll in a two-year school after graduation anyway, Maloy said, and the workforce diploma won’t hinder that. But the high school has only one counselor for its 450 students, and making sure students fully understand this diploma pathway — and its limitations — is likely to add pressure and extra responsibilities on counselors with heavy workloads.

    Students hold up the wall of a tiny home they’re building in a career and tech architecture class at Huffman High School in Birmingham, Alabama. Credit: Ariel Gilreath/The Hechinger Report

    “There’s so much pressure on our secondary counselors already just to make sure that all of the boxes are checked before graduation. It’s going to put an extra box for them to check,” Maloy said.

    Ultimately, state businesses and industries want this change, said Mackey, who started his career as a middle and high school science teacher.

    “They were saying, ‘We really need students with skills over, say, calculus,’” Mackey said. “That doesn’t mean some students don’t need calculus — we want to still offer those higher math courses and higher science courses.”

    But, reflecting on his own experience as a high school science teacher, “I can tell you that every student doesn’t need high school chemistry,” Mackey said.

    The chamber of commerce in Mobile, Alabama, is one group that advocated for the workforce diploma. Career tech classes are a good way for students to better learn what they want to do before graduating high school, and they are also an avenue for students to get skills in high wage industries prevalent in Alabama, said Kellie Snodgrass, vice president of workforce development at the Mobile Chamber.

    Less than half of high school graduates in the region end up enrolling in college after graduation, Snodgrass said, and only 20 percent of high-wage jobs in Mobile require a college degree. A large chunk of jobs in the state, and in Mobile in particular, are in manufacturing.

    “It’s terrible when a student goes away to college and comes back and can’t find a job, when we have thousands of open jobs here,” Snodgrass said.

    In an emailed statement, Trevor Sutton, the vice president of economic development at the Birmingham Business Alliance, said the diploma option was a “win for the state of Alabama” that would allow students a chance to learn both “hard and soft skills like communication and time management.”

    Related: States bet big on career education, but struggle to show it works

    At least 11 states have embraced policies that give students flexibility to use career tech courses for core academic credits, according to a review from the Education Commission of the States.

    Like Alabama, Indiana also made changes to its diploma requirements in 2024. After more than a year of public debate, the state created three graduation pathways that are meant to lead to college admissions, the workforce, or enlistment in the military. Those changes will be effective for students in the class of 2029, or current eighth graders.

    Having industry buy-in on career tech programs is important, said Lloyd with All4Ed, because most students will need either an industry or post-secondary credential to land a job with a comfortable wage.

    “The reality is a high school diploma is not enough in today’s labor market to have a guaranteed ticket to the middle class,” Lloyd said.

    The problem, Lloyd said, is most K-12 industry credentials have little use to employers. Only 18 percent of CTE credentials earned by K-12 students in the U.S. were in demand by employers, according to a 2020 report from the Burning Glass Institute.

    The key in Alabama will be ensuring students are going into career pathways that line up with job demand, Snodgrass said. Out of the more than 33,000 CTE credentials Alabama high school students earned in 2023, only 2 percent were in manufacturing, which is one of the state’s highest need areas.

    Still, attitudes toward high school CTE courses — once largely thought of as classes for students who struggled academically — have improved significantly over the years. And many schools offer CTE programs like aerospace, robotics or conservation that could help students get into high-demand undergraduate programs at universities.

    “We’re increasingly blurring the lines between what has been historically siloed in people’s minds in terms of career education versus academic education,” Lloyd said. “Those are very often one and the same.”

    Contact staff writer Ariel Gilreath at gilreath@hechingerreport.org

    This story about Alabama high school requirements was produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Hechinger newsletter

    The Hechinger Report provides in-depth, fact-based, unbiased reporting on education that is free to all readers. But that doesn’t mean it’s free to produce. Our work keeps educators and the public informed about pressing issues at schools and on campuses throughout the country. We tell the whole story, even when the details are inconvenient. Help us keep doing that.

    Join us today.

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  • Washington and Lee University – Edu Alliance Journal

    Washington and Lee University – Edu Alliance Journal

    April 7, 2025, by Dean Hoke: This profile of Washington and Lee University is the eighth in a series presenting small colleges throughout the United States.

    Background

    Founded in 1749, Washington and Lee University (W&L) is a private liberal arts college located in Lexington, Virginia. With a 325-acre campus in the Shenandoah Valley, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the U.S. Originally Augusta Academy, it became Washington College after George Washington’s 1796 gift. It later took on its current name in honor of Robert E. Lee, who served as president following the Civil War. The school became coeducational in 1985 and is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges nationally. The President of Washington and Lee since 2017 is William (Will) Dudley.

    W&L enrolls approximately 1,900 undergraduates and 375 law students. The university boasts an 8:1 student-faculty ratio and an average class size of 15. The university is renowned for its rigorous academics, a single-sanction honor system, and a strong emphasis on ethical leadership and community.

    Curricula

    W&L offers 36 majors and 41 minors across disciplines such as the humanities, sciences, arts, business, journalism, and engineering. It’s the only leading liberal arts college with accredited undergraduate programs in business and journalism. Students can pursue either a B.A. or B.S. degree and are encouraged to pursue interdisciplinary interests. Popular majors include Business Administration, Economics, Political Science, and interdisciplinary areas such as Environmental Studies and Poverty Studies. Signature programs include the Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability, combining classroom learning with community engagement on social justice issues. Over 60% of undergraduates study abroad, and a significant number participate in internships and research, often supported by university grants.

    Strengths

    • Exceptional Outcomes and Opportunities: W&L’s four-year graduation rate is about 92%, and over 93% of graduates secure employment or enter graduate school within six months of graduation​. They are a top producer of Fulbright scholars and other fellowship winners, reflecting the high caliber of their students and the support they receive in pursuing global opportunities​.
    • Academic Excellence: W&L consistently ranks among the top liberal arts schools in the United States. It has been ranked #9 by US News and World Report in Best Small Colleges in America and #9 for best liberal arts colleges. The school consistently ranks among the top producers of Fulbright and other prestigious fellowships.
    • Experiential Learning: The unique Spring Term and emphasis on study abroad (60%+ participation) offer high-impact, immersive educational experiences. Programs like the Shepherd Poverty Program and community-based internships promote civic learning.
    • Financial Strength: With a $2 billion endowment (roughly $900,000 per student), W&L offers strong financial aid and has a need-blind admissions policy for most domestic and international applicants.

    Weaknesses

    • Exclusivity: W&L has historically attracted a particular student demographic and features a social scene dominated by Greek life, which presents challenges in broadening campus culture. Approximately 75% of undergraduates join fraternities or sororities—one of the highest Greek participation rates in the nation​. This deep-rooted Greek presence contributes to close social bonds and robust alumni networks. Still, it can also create a perception of social exclusivity for Students who do not participate in Greek life.
    • Historical Legacy and Diversity Challenges: W&L grapples with aspects of its historic legacy that pose modern challenges. The institution’s very name honors Robert E. Lee, and debates have occurred over whether to rename the university, given Lee’s ties to the Confederacy and slavery​. In 2020, campus discussions on this issue drew national attention and revealed divisions among stakeholders​. The cultural transition – shedding outdated perceptions and ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel fully welcome – remains an ongoing challenge for Washington and Lee.

    Economic Impact

    W&L is not only an academic institution but also a major economic engine for Lexington and the surrounding Shenandoah Valley. In addition to educating students, W&L significantly boosts the local economy through employment, spending, and partnerships. The university is one of the largest employers in the region, with roughly 870 faculty and staff​. A comprehensive economic impact study in 2010 found that W&L was responsible for over $225 million in economic activity in the region in a single year.

    Enrollment Trends

    As of Fall 2024, Washington and Lee’s total undergraduate enrollment stands at 1,866 undergraduate students, with an additional 355 students in the law school​. Over the past decade, undergraduate enrollment has remained stable.

    The undergraduate acceptance rate has declined from 24% to 14% over the past five years, reflecting increased selectivity. The gender balance has also shifted to slightly favor women (51%). The university maintains a first-year retention rate of 96-98% and six-year graduation rates remain steady between 93% and 95%, reflecting a high level of student satisfaction and institutional support.

    Degrees Awarded by Major

    In the Class of 2020 -21, W&L conferred degrees across a wide spectrum of majors. Below is a breakdown by number of degrees awarded that year:

    Return of Investment

    According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce’s study, Ranking 4,600 Colleges by ROI (2025), W&L offers a strong return on investment. In this study, ROI is calculated as the difference between a graduate’s cumulative earnings over time and the total out-of-pocket cost of attending college, which refers to the net cost after accounting for grants and scholarships.

    For students earning a bachelor’s degree, W&L’s median ROI significantly exceeds the average for private nonprofit colleges, both in the short and long term.

    Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, analysis of U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard data, 2009–2022.

    Alumni

    W&L boasts a vibrant alumni network that is both tightly knit and far-reaching. There are over 25,000 living W&L alumni worldwide, spread across all 50 states and dozens of countries. Alumni often refer to themselves as “Generals” (after the school’s athletic moniker) and maintain strong ties to the institution long after graduation.

    Notable Alumni: W&L’s alumni list includes prominent figures in law, government, business, journalism, literature, and the arts:

    • Lewis F. Powell Jr. (Class of 1929; Law 1931): Was a U.S. Supreme Court Justice (served 1972–1987)​ . Justice Powell was one of three Supreme Court justices who attended Washington and Lee.
    • Tom Wolfe (Class of 1951): Best-selling author and journalist, pioneer of the “New Journalism” movement​. Wolfe wrote influential works like The Right Stuff and The Bonfire of the Vanities, and is an icon in American literature.
    • Roger Mudd (Class of 1950): Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist​. Mudd was a longtime CBS News correspondent and anchor known for his work on CBS Evening News and documentaries.
    • Joseph L. Goldstein (Class of 1962): Awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research in cholesterol metabolism.
    • Warren A. Stephens (Class of 1979): Chairman, president, and CEO of Stephens Inc., President Donald Trump nominated him to serve as the United States ambassador to the United Kingdom.
    • Rob Ashford (Class of 1982): A renowned choreographer and director, Ashford is an eight-time Tony Award nominee (winning one), a five-time Olivier Award nominee,  and an Emmy Award winner. 
    • Linda Klein (Class of 1983): American Lawyer and past president of the American Bar Association.

    Endowment and Financial Standing

    W&L’s financial foundation is exceptionally strong for a liberal arts institution of its size. As of 2024, W&L’s endowment is nearly $2.0 billion​, placing it among the top liberal arts college endowments in the nation (and even comparable to some mid-sized research universities).

    In a typical year, endowment earnings contribute roughly 40-50% of the university’s operating budget. The 2023 analysis by Forbes rated W&L a solid “B+” in financial health (score of about 3.34 out of 4.5)​

    Why is Washington & Lee Important?

    • Academic Excellence & Ethical Leadership:
      W&L exemplifies a liberal arts education that blends intellectual rigor with character development. Its Honor System promotes integrity and responsibility, shaping graduates who lead with both intellect and ethics.
    • Graduate Success & Influence:
      With 93% of graduates employed or in grad school within six months, W&L delivers top-tier outcomes. Alumni go on to excel in law, government, business, journalism, medicine, and the arts—many serving as civic leaders, mentors, and public servants.
    • Economic & Cultural Impact:
      Though small, W&L plays a major role in the Shenandoah Valley. It creates jobs, draws thousands of visitors annually, and enriches the area culturally with events, lectures, and museums. Its partnership with the local community strengthens regional vitality.
    • Access & Forward-Thinking Values:
      W&L’s need-blind admissions and robust financial aid reflect its commitment to affordability and inclusivity. It ranks highly for free speech and integrates modern disciplines like data science and entrepreneurship into a classic liberal arts framework, demonstrating how tradition and innovation can thrive together.

    With its blend of tradition and innovation, W&L continues to influence American higher education. It upholds the time-honored virtues of a liberal arts college—close mentoring, a broad education, honor, and civility—while evolving to meet contemporary challenges by opening doors to more students and engaging with real-world issues. W&L remains a cornerstone institution among small colleges, illustrating the enduring importance of the liberal arts model in shaping thoughtful, responsible citizens.

    Dean Hoke is Managing Partner of Edu Alliance Group, a higher education consultancy, and a Senior Fellow with the Sagamore Institute. He formerly served as President/CEO of the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA). With decades of experience in higher education leadership, consulting, and institutional strategy, he brings a wealth of knowledge on small colleges’ challenges and opportunities. Dean, along with Kent Barnds, is a co-host for the podcast series Small College America. 

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  • New Way to Teach Writing by Incorporating AI – Sovorel

    New Way to Teach Writing by Incorporating AI – Sovorel

    AI is here, and it is here to stay, which means that academia needs to incorporate it so that students learn about AI’s capability and are ready to use it properly. The most complained about issue in writing classes today is that students simply use AI to write their essays for them and, in the process, do not learn anything and use AI improperly. “The Anders 4 Phase AI Method of Writing Instruction,” is able to overcome these issues. This instructional method develops students’ writing skills while teaching AI literacy, which includes critical thinking. Different aspects of this method can also be applied to other courses/assignments. The Anders 4 Phase AI Method of Writing Instruction is a much-needed new way to develop writing in a way that better aligns with the new realities of how many people are already writing with AI.

    Key Components (the four phases):

    1. Foundational Writing Skills Development: instruction and assessment on key aspects of writing such as sentence structure, paragraph structure, transitional sentences, use of personal voice, researching, outlining, thesis statements, and any other needed writing components. Done through: multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short in-class writing.
    2. Understanding of Different Essay Types: instruction and assessment on key aspects of different essay types done through multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short in-class writing
    3. Prompt Engineering Development: instruction and assessment on prompt engineering using an advanced prompt formula, the ability to create effective prompts for AI to generate good essays that have proper formatting, student voice, and accurate information. Evaluated via multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank tests, and in-class writing of prompts and additional drafting.
    4. Use of AI for Writing with Full Personal Accountability: assessment on specific essay creation done via student submission of essays developed through the use and assistance of AI. Additional in-class exams on key contents and periodic student presentations on created essays (to help ensure student accountability of knowledge integration).

    Key Benefits:

    • Develops students’ foundational knowledge of writing and ability to create multiple essay types
    • Eliminates issues with students inappropriately using AI to write essays without fully understanding writing components
    • Reduces instructors’ stress/anxiety in feeling the need to run AI detection tools (no longer needed)
    • Helps to directly develop students’ understanding of effective writing while simultaneously developing their critical thinking, AI literacy, and ethical AI use skills

    A much more detailed description of this method is available through the Sovorel Center for Teaching & Learning YouTube educational Channel:

    For an even more detailed informational article on The Anders 4 Phase AI Method of Writing Instruction, you can go here: https://brentaanders.medium.com/the-new-way-to-teach-writing-1e3b9a14ef64

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