Tag: college

  • The Five Pillars of the College Meltdown

    The Five Pillars of the College Meltdown

    Demographics

    The first pillar of the College Meltdown is demographic decline. Following the Great Recession, U.S. birthrates dropped sharply, creating a smaller pipeline of traditional college-age students. Nathan Grawe’s projections and WICHE’s Knocking at the College Door reports point to a steep enrollment cliff between 2025 and 2029, with some regions—particularly the Midwest and Northeast—facing the most severe contractions.

    Case Study: Dozens of small private colleges in the Midwest, such as Iowa Wesleyan University (closed in 2023), have already succumbed to shrinking student pools. These closures foreshadow the demographic cliff that will hit hardest in tuition-dependent institutions.

    Economics

    The second pillar is economic fragility. Tuition and fees have risen faster than inflation and wages, leaving families burdened with debt. Student loan balances now exceed $1.7 trillion, with many graduates trapped in lifetime debt peonage. State disinvestment has shifted costs onto students, while tuition-dependent small colleges and regional universities face existential threats.

    Case Study: The collapse of Mount Ida College in Massachusetts (2018) illustrates how tuition-driven institutions can fail suddenly when enrollment drops and debt obligations mount. Similar financial stress has led to mergers, such as the consolidation of Pennsylvania’s state universities.

    Integrity (Fraud and Trust)

    The third pillar is integrity. Enrollment fraud has become a systemic issue, with ghost students, bots, and synthetic identities siphoning off Pell Grants and other aid. Documented losses exceed $100 million annually, but California officials estimate that nearly a third of applications in 2024 were fraudulent. Fraud not only drains resources but also distorts enrollment data, masking the severity of demographic decline and eroding trust in higher education institutions.

    Case Study: California Community Colleges uncovered tens of thousands of fraudulent applications in 2021–2022, with bots and synthetic identities targeting federal aid. This distorted enrollment figures and forced institutions to spend millions on fraud detection systems.

    Governance and Labor

    The fourth pillar is governance and labor. Higher education has been corporatized, with growing reliance on Online Program Managers (OPMs), outsourcing, and profit-driven models. Faculty labor has been deskilled, with adjuncts and contingent instructors making up the majority of teaching staff. Administrative bloat contrasts with shrinking instructional budgets, and some institutions resemble “robocolleges” with minimal full-time faculty presence.

    Case Study: The University of Phoenix, once the largest for-profit college, closed hundreds of campuses and shifted to online models heavily reliant on OPMs. Meanwhile, adjunct faculty at many regional universities report poverty wages and no job security, even as administrative salaries rise.

    Culture and Public Trust

    The fifth pillar is cultural erosion. Public confidence in higher education has plummeted, dropping from 57 percent in 2015 to just 36 percent in 2024. Skepticism about the value of a degree has grown, with alternatives like certificates, apprenticeships, and direct-to-work pathways gaining traction. Political polarization and media narratives of closures, mergers, and scandals reinforce the perception of a system in meltdown.

    Case Study: Gallup polls show declining trust across political and demographic groups. Regional newspapers covering closures of institutions like Green Mountain College (Vermont, 2019) and Becker College (Massachusetts, 2021) amplify public skepticism, reinforcing the narrative that higher education is no longer a safe investment.

    The Pillars Weakening 

    The College Meltdown is not the result of a single factor but the convergence of demographics, economics, integrity failures, governance issues, and cultural distrust. Each pillar weakens the foundation of higher education, and together they accelerate its unraveling. Case studies from across the country show that the meltdown is not theoretical—it is already happening. Recognizing these interconnected forces is essential if policymakers, educators, and communities hope to address the crisis before the collapse becomes irreversible.

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  • DeSantis wants to give USF’s Sarasota campus to New College of Florida

    DeSantis wants to give USF’s Sarasota campus to New College of Florida

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    Dive Brief:

    • The New College of Florida could take control of the University of South Florida’s Sarasota-Manatee campus under a new proposal from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 
    • Under DeSantis’ 2026-27 state budget,  New College would assume control of USF Sarasota-Manatee’s 32-acre property and related liabilities by July. In exchange, the college would pay USF roughly $166,600 per month for debt tied to the property. 
    • Current USF Sarasota-Manatee students would have a “reasonable opportunity” to finish their degrees at the campus before New College could fully take over the property, according to the proposal. If the proposal takes effect, USF could not enroll new students at its Sarasota-Manatee campus going forward.

    Dive Insight:

    With DeSantis’ proposal, the liberal arts-focused New College, also based in Sarasota, would undertake a major expansion. However, the governor’s budget proposal essentially represents a legislative wish list, making the ultimate outcome still uncertain. 

    “This is a policy matter that is going to be discussed, debated and worked through over the coming months of the Legislative Session,” Will Weatherford, chair of USF’s governing board, said at a meeting on Thursday, according to local media. “We don’t control the outcome of that discussion.”

    The proposal would not transfer USF’s Sarasota-Manatee students or employees to New College.  

    USF would retain its intellectual and other intangible property, as well as records and equipment, and have priority over the space while its current students finish their degrees. 

    However, the budget provision states that the two institutions could forge a “mutual agreement to share or use space in any of the transferred properties or facilities when it is in the best interest of both institutions or their students.”

    News of such a plan for New College to take over the campus broke earlier this year. 

    Emails unearthed in March by WUSF — a public news outlet owned by USF — included a draft press release penned by New College announcing it would integrate the Sarasota-Manatee campus. The draft release trumpeted millions of dollars in potential savings and the elimination of redundancies between the two institutions. 

    The draft said the “strategic partnership between the next door colleges aims to create a unified, world-class institution that maximizes resources, eliminates redundancies, and elevates opportunities for students, faculty, and the region.”

    “New College’s rapid growth will immediately benefit from the additional physical space provided by the USF-SM campus,” the draft release also stated. “The integration also addresses longstanding inefficiencies, consolidating administrative functions and aligning academic offerings.”

    In New College’s envisioning, according to the draft, the integration would create “streamlined transfer pathways” for USF Sarasota-Manatee students to the university’s Tampa flagship or St. Petersburg campuses, or New College. 

    Prior to those discussions of a transfer, New College in 2024 took over a 9-acre waterfront property, originally set aside for USF Sarasota-Manatee, which the college said would grow its student population. 

    New College has become a lynchpin in DeSantis’ efforts to remake higher education in Florida. In 2023, the governor revamped the college’s board and named his longtime ally Richard Corcoran — former Republican state House speaker and Florida education commissioner — as its president. 

    In the intervening two years, Corcoran and the board have killed the institution’s once-robust diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and dismantled its gender studies department, among other changes favored by conservatives. 

    In October, New College became the first to publicly volunteer for President Donald Trump’s higher education compact, which offers colleges priority in research funding in exchange for adopting a slate of policies put forward by the Trump administration. 

    The legal foundations of the compact have been widely questioned, and most of the nine research universities directly offered the deal rejected it over concerns about free speech, institutional independence and maintaining meritocracy in funding. New College, on the other hand, said it would “happily be the first” to embrace the compact. 

    “We have no affirmative action or DEI, and we have been building a campus where open dialogue and the marketplace of ideas are at the forefront of everything we do,” Corcoran said at the time. 

    Meanwhile, USF Sarasota-Manatee has been growing its physical footprint. The campus, long a commuter-only institution, last year opened a new 100,000-square-foot combined residence hall and student center that it billed as the campus’s first student housing and major expansion since opening in 2006. 

    New College is renting space in USF Sarasota-Manatee’s new facility to house some of its students. That expense, combined with renting nearby hotel rooms for the same purpose, is costing the college millions of dollars each year, according to WUSF.

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  • More teens are using summer for college and career prep

    More teens are using summer for college and career prep

    Key points:

    The academic landscape has evolved dramatically, especially when it comes to summers. More students are embracing year-round learning to build strong study habits and develop the critical thinking, application, and retention skills they need for success in higher education and the workplace. They’re treating AP®, SAT®, and ACT® practice and preparation as long-term investments rather than temporary obligations where they are last-minute cramming for these high-stakes exams.

    Trends and research support this approach. The Pew Research Center found that 36.6 percent of U.S. teens had a paying job during the summer of 2021–the highest rate since 2008. According to their research, 86 percent of U.S. teens say having a job or career they enjoy is extremely or very important, and 58 percent say having a lot of money is highly important. Their drive for meaningful, financially secure careers is reshaping how they spend their time, especially during the summer.

    Beyond earning money, today’s teens are using their summers for skill development through jobs, internships, and academic prep. This dual focus on work and learning shows maturity and foresight. Students are preparing not just for the next school year but for the professional expectations they’ll face later in life.

    What the Surge Says About Student Ambition

    This rising engagement in AP coursework aligns with a broader cultural shift toward early academic specialization. Students see AP coursework as more than a way to earn college credit. It’s the first step into their intended career path.

    • Future healthcare professionals are diving into AP Biology, AP Chemistry, AP Physics 1, and AP Psychology as early tests of their aptitude for the MCAT® and various medical fields.
    • Aspiring attorneys and policymakers turn to AP Government and AP U.S. History to build knowledge of our legislative and judicial foundations, as well as analytical and writing skills.
    • Future accountants, entrepreneurs, and business people gravitate toward AP Calculus, AP Macroeconomics, and AP Statistics to develop quantitative fluency and business reasoning.

    The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that six in 10 teens say graduating from college is extremely or very important to getting a good job. Many recognize that advanced coursework in high school can make college more manageable and scholarships to their dream schools more attainable.

    The rise in AP participation isn’t just academic enthusiasm. It’s strategic planning. Students are approaching high school as a career laboratory where they can test their interests, gauge their strengths, and start aligning their goals with future opportunities.

    Summer as the new launchpad

    For this generation, the summer is a launchpad, not a pause. Teens are blending part-time work with academic enrichment, community involvement, and skill-building activities that align with their future ambitions. Many see the summer as the perfect window to study at their own pace, without the pressure of a full course load or extracurricular overload. 

    More students are using summer break strategically to strengthen their understanding and prepare for challenging AP and SAT content. This behavior echoes findings from Pew’s 2025 survey: Teens are more focused on professional and financial success than on traditional milestones such as marriage and family life. They’re motivated by the pursuit of independence, stability, and purpose, values that translate directly into how they approach school and learning.

    When I talk to students, what stands out is how intentional they are. They want to be prepared, and they want options. They see every AP class and every practice question as one step closer to a career that excites them, and a future they can control.

    From short-term learning to lifelong skills

    This trend toward early preparation also reflects a shift in how students define success. They understand that knowledge alone isn’t enough; the ability to apply, adapt, and persist will carry them through college and into their careers.

    With the research in mind, educators and edtech tools must prioritize active learning over memorization. By helping students understand the why behind each step, not just the correct answer, we build the problem-solving and analytical reasoning skills that mirror the expectations in fields more students are pursuing, including medicine, law, engineering, and business.

    The Future Belongs to the Prepared

    The surge in AP course engagement this summer isn’t an anomaly. It’s a glimpse into the future of learning, and we see that as a positive sign. Students are no longer waiting for senior year or college to take their goals seriously. They’re taking ownership of their learning, developing study skills that extend far beyond exams, and connecting their academic effort to real-world ambition. They’re not just preparing for tests; they’re preparing for life.

    High school may be where lifelong learning begins, but for this generation, it’s also where futures are built.

    Laura Ascione
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  • College costs grew 3.6% in fiscal 2025, HEPI shows

    College costs grew 3.6% in fiscal 2025, HEPI shows

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    Dive Brief: 

    • College operating costs increased 3.6% in fiscal 2025, according to the latest Higher Education Price Index, which tracks the sector’s inflation.
    • “HEPI inflation rates are again elevated above what many consider the norm, set by expectations from prior decades,” according to a report from Commonfund Institute, which is responsible for the index. For the past five years, the HEPI rate has been above the prior decade’s annual average of 2.2%. 
    • HEPI’s latest inflation rate continues a period of elevated cost increases for colleges and universities that began with the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest annual price increase of 3.6% is higher than the prior year’s rate of 3.4%. However, it’s much lower than the most recent peak of 5.2% in fiscal 2022. 

    Dive Insight: 

    HEPI found cost increases for colleges outpaced those tracked by the Consumer Price Index, which showed inflation for the general public rising 2.6% in fiscal year 2025. HEPI’s inflation rate has been higher than the CPI’s in nine out of the past 11 years. 

    The cost increases are putting immense pressure on many colleges. Some institutions that have closed in recent years have even cited inflation as one of the reasons they’re shutting down. 

    For others, the price hikes mean shrinking margins and the need for budget cuts. All three major credit rating agencies issued a gloomy 2026 outlook for either nonprofit colleges or the entire higher education sector, with each citing rising costs as a factor. 

    Out of eight cost categories that the HEPI tracks, administrative salaries grew the most in fiscal 2025, increasing by 4.8%. 

    Similarly, faculty salaries rose 4.3%, the highest rate recorded since HEPI began tracking inflation in the category in 1998. Inflation in faculty salaries has only reached 4% or higher two other times — a 4% increase in 2023 and a 4.1% increase in 2008. Faculty salaries have the most impact on the index. 

    Increases for the other categories were: 

    • 4.2% for utilities.
    • 4.1% for service employees. 
    • 3.7% for miscellaneous services. 
    • 3.3% for clerical costs. 
    • 2.4% for fringe benefits. 

    Only supplies and materials saw deflation, with a 0.2% decline in costs. 

    Across institutions, two-year public colleges saw the highest overall cost increases at 4.6%. No other institution type had inflation above 4%. Part of this was due to inflation in faculty salaries at those institutions reaching 8.7% in fiscal 2025 — by far the highest out of any institution type. 

    Overall, public institutions had higher increases in faculty salaries than public colleges, 4.7% versus 3.6%. This breaks with the trend of private institutions more often seeing higher annual inflation in faculty costs, according to the Commonfund Institute report.

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  • Shouldn’t College Be for Learning?

    Shouldn’t College Be for Learning?

    In a long, passionate, well-reasoned, thoroughly evidenced cri de coeur published at Current Affairs, San Francisco State professor Ronald Purser declares, “AI Is Destroying the University and Learning Itself.”

    That attention-grabbing headline is a bit misleading, because as Purser makes clear in the article, it is not “AI” itself that is destroying these things. The source of the problem is human beings, primarily the human beings in charge of universities that have looked at the offerings from tech companies and, failing to recognize the vampire prepared to drain their institutions of their life force, not only invite them across the threshold but declare them their new bosom buddies.

    Dartmouth University recently announced a deal with Anthropic/Amazon Web Services that university president Sian Beilock declared “is more than a collaboration.” The promises are familiar, using AI “to augment—not replace—student learning,” as though this is something we know how to do, and that this is best explored en masse across all aspects of the university simultaneously, rather than through careful experimentation. I think I understand some of the motivation to these kinds of deals—to seize some sense of agency in uncertain times—but the idea that even an institution as august as Dartmouth with such a long history in the development of artificial intelligence will be “collaborators” with these two entities is wishful thinking, IMO.

    Purser’s piece details much of what I’ve heard in my travels from institution to institution to speak and consult on these issues. There is a lot of well-earned angst out there, particularly in places where administrations have made bets that look like a Texas Hold’em player pushing all in on a pair of eights. No consultation, no collaboration, no vision beyond vague promises of future abundance. A recent AAUP report stemming from a survey of 500 of its members shows that one of the chief fears of faculty is being sidelined entirely as administrations strike these deals.

    This uninvited guest has thrown much of what we would consider the core purpose of the university in doubt. As Purser says, “Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.”

    While Purser’s account is accurate to a degree, I also want to say that it is not complete. As I wrote a couple of months ago, there are also great signs of progress in terms of addressing the challenges of the moment. The kind of administration and institutional carelessness that Purser documents is not universal, and even under those conditions, faculty and students are finding ways to do meaningful work. Many people are successfully addressing what I’ve long believed is the core problem, the “transactional model” of schooling that actively dissuades students from taking the required risks for learning and personal development.

    One of the most frequent observations I’ve made in doing this work is that many, perhaps even most, students have no real enthusiasm for an AI-mediated future where their thoughts and experiences are secondary to the outputs of an LLM model. The fact that they find the model outputs useful in school contexts is the problem.

    I was greatly cheered by this account from Matt Dinan, who details how he built the experiences of his course from root pedagogical values in a way that clearly signals to students the importance of doing the work for themselves, the importance of their thoughts and the sincere belief that taking a risk to learn is worth doing and well supported.

    What we see is that success comes from giving instructors the freedom to work the problem under conditions that allow the problem to be solved. Note that this does not de facto require a rejection of AI. There’s plenty of room for those more interested in AI to explore its integration, but it does mean doing more than signaling to faculty and students, “You’re going to use AI and you’re going to like it.”

    Much of what Purser describes is not only the imposition of AI, but the imposition of AI in a system that has been worn down through austerity measures over many decades, leaving it vulnerable to what is nothing more than an ideology promising increased efficiency and lower cost while still allowing the institutions to collect tuition revenue. This thinking reduces the “value proposition” of higher ed to its credentialing purpose.

    I know that the popular image of colleges and universities is that they are slow to change, but I have actually been surprised at the speed at which many institutions are making this AI future bet, particularly when we don’t know what future we’re betting on.

    Applying the tech ethos of “move fast and break things” to education has gained some traction because there is evidence to point toward and say, “This thing is already broken, so what do we have to lose?”

    We could lose a lot—and lose it forever.

    I remain open to the idea that generative AI and whatever comes after it can have positive effects on higher education, but I am increasingly convinced that when it comes to the experiences of learning, we know very little as to how this should be done. As Justin Reich wrote recently at The Chronicle, “stop pretending you know how to teach AI.”

    We shouldn’t abandon the things we do know how to teach (like writing) while we experiment with this new technology. We shouldn’t dodge the structural barriers that Ronald Purser outlines in his piece, hoping for an AI savior around the corner. This isn’t what students want, it’s not what students need and it is not a way to secure an ongoing value proposition for higher education.

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  • College Aid Previews Aim to Improve Early Decision

    College Aid Previews Aim to Improve Early Decision

    With the imminent arrival of early-decision results comes a new round of hand-wringing about the admissions practice, which affords students a better chance of getting accepted to their top institution but requires them to commit if admitted.

    Critics argue that the practice disadvantages low- and middle-income students, who fear being locked into attending a college before they know if they can afford it—although many colleges with an early-decision option allow students to back out over financial constraints. It also prevents applicants from comparing financial aid offers across multiple institutions.

    “Because there is so much uncertainty, families with high incomes are more likely to choose early decision and therefore benefit from its more favorable odds. It’s the perfect tool for maximizing revenues at schools positioned as luxury products, with price tags to match,” wrote Daniel Currell, a former deputy under secretary and senior adviser at the Department of Education from 2018 to 2021, in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday that argued for the end of early decision. Indeed, Common App data about the fall 2021 freshman class showed that students from the wealthiest ZIP codes were twice as likely to apply early decision.

    But despite the criticisms, some institutions are aiming to make the practice more equitable. A handful of small liberal arts colleges have introduced initiatives in recent years to allow students to preview their financial aid offers before they decide whether or not to apply early, which admissions leaders say they hope will make lower-income students feel more comfortable taking the leap.

    Reed College, a selective liberal arts college in Oregon, began offering early-decision aid reviews this year, which allow early-decision applicants to request and view their full financial aid packages before they receive an actual decision from the university. Just like an official aid offer, the preview is calculated by financial aid staff using the College Scholarship Service profile.

    If they aren’t entirely comfortable with the amount of aid they’re set to receive—or they’d rather compare offers from other institutions—they can drop their application down into the early-action pool.

    “I just think that this anxiety that people have over not getting the best financial deal for their family has been a barrier for people saying, ‘This is my first-choice school and I want to do everything I can to increase my chances for admission,’” said Milyon Trulove, vice president and dean of admission and financial aid at Reed.

    Early financial aid offers are among the various steps institutions have taken in recent years to improve cost transparency and, in many cases, show students that their institutions are affordable. Others include improved cost estimators and campaigns offering free tuition for families under a particular income limit. Institutions hope that such innovations will help prevent students from writing off their institutions—particularly selective institutions that offer significant aid—due to their sticker prices.

    So far, Reed’s reviews appear to be doing a good job of enticing applicants who otherwise might not have applied early; the number of early-decision applicants this year increased 60 percent compared to last admissions cycle. Only one student has opted to switch to early action, which is nonbinding, after receiving their estimated offer.

    Similar programs at other institutions have also proven successful. Whitman College in Washington began offering early financial aid guarantees in 2020 to any prospective student who had filled out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. The initiative wasn’t created specifically to promote early decision, said Adam Miller, vice president for admission and financial aid. But he said he hoped that making it clear to families that Whitman is affordable would also open doors for students interested in applying early decision but nervous about costs.

    Early-decision applications haven’t increased at Whitman like they did this year at Reed. But Miller noted that the college’s early-decision applicants are as socioeconomically diverse as the institution’s overall applicant pool, rather than skewing wealthier.

    “As we think about these nationwide conversations and the very valid criticism of early decision, we think that our approach allows us to have kind of a win-win,” he said. “We still get the benefit of students who are applying early, [so] that we can start to build our incoming class with some confidence,” while also eliminating financial uncertainty for families.

    Last year, the university’s four-person financial aid staff handled 546 requests for early aid guarantees. It’s an extra lift for the tiny office, but, Miller said, 410 of those students ended up applying—“so it’s not like we were doing a lot of extra work for students that we weren’t going to be doing it for anyway.”

    Macalester College also launched such a program in 2021. The institution, which typically admits between 35 and 40 percent of its incoming class from early decision, implemented aid previews in conjunction with a number of other steps aimed at improving access, including going test-optional and eliminating its application fee.

    “If we have an opportunity to do something that we think might be helpful to an individual student or family, I guess I feel as responsibility as an enrollment manager to try to initiate a new practice or new policy,” said Jeff Allen, vice president for admissions and financial aid at Macalester.

    Boosting Cost Transparency

    Financial aid experts said they see early financial aid calculations as a good option for institutions hoping to make the early-decision process—and college costs over all—more transparent.

    Students should be able to “apply early decision to a school where they know it’s the place for them and they don’t need to be saying, ‘But I need the financial aid so maybe this isn’t a good choice,’” said Jill Desjean, director of policy analysis at the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. “That option should be available to anyone that finds the school where they really feel like they belong via early decision without having to factor in their finances, so any kind of early estimates, accurate early estimates—anything like that is a positive thing.”

    She noted that such programs might be too heavy of a lift for institutions receiving massive numbers of applications every year, but also that larger institutions have more resources and staffing to accommodate such requests.

    James Murphy, a senior fellow at Class Action, an advocacy organization focused on “reimagining elite higher education,” said that while he sees early aid previews as a positive step toward transparency, they don’t address some of his key concerns about early decision. At many expensive private high schools, he said, nearly every student applies early decision, whereas public high school students often aren’t even aware of the option.

    “There’s kind of a culture thing. If you go to Georgetown Prep … everybody’s applying early decision, or most students are applying early decision, unless they’re applying to Harvard or Stanford that don’t have it … When you look at public schools, that’s not nearly as common,” he said. “I think raising awareness of early decision as a viable option for more students is one step that higher education could take to make it a little bit more equitable.”

    He also noted that some institutions admit over half of their incoming classes from early-decision applicants, which dramatically lowers the chances for regular-admission applicants to be admitted.

    “The New York Times had that op-ed about banning it. That’s not going to happen. Colleges will fight so hard to make that not happen,” he said. But, he said, “what I would love to see is caps” on the percentage of students that can be admitted early decision.

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  • Higher education postcard: Normal College, Bangor revisited

    Higher education postcard: Normal College, Bangor revisited

    Greetings from Bangor!

    We’ve visited Normal College before, but I frankly couldn’t resist sharing this postcard, with a very lovely scene, so we’re going back for another look. This time at an occurrence in the college’s early years, and a couple of newspaper snippets.

    As we’ve seen, the college was founded in 1868, through the efforts of Hugh Owen and the British and Foreign Schools Society.

    The Illustrated Times on 14 January 1960 published an engraving and the following text:

    The accompanying Engraving represents the Normal Training College in course of erection at Bangor, the foundation-stone of which was laid by Lord John Russell on the 11th of November last. The ground occupied the building, and overlooking the Menai Straits, was generously given for the purpose by the Hon. E. G. D. Pennant, MP. The institution is for the training and instruction of forty students to act as schoolmasters in the northern division of the principality. Our Illustration is from the design made by Mr. John Barnett, the architect.

    10 November 1890 saw student protest at the college. As the Weekly Times and Echo reported the following Sunday:

    The students at the North Wales Normal College at Bangor, about seventy in number, were on Tuesday summarily expelled for having left the college on Monday night as a protest against the food served. The institution, which is used for the training of Board schoolmasters for schools in North Wales, is now entirely closed, and will remain so till Christmas. The college authorities aver that the food complained of was excellent, and that the revolt arose through the impertinence of one student, who was ordered to leave the table, upon which his companions rose and joined him. As the students declined to appear before the Committee, either by deputation or individually, the only course left to the Committee was to authorise Principal Rowlands to dismiss them pending an enquiry.

    What happened next? Well, a flurry of back and forth in various newspapers, about who called who a liar, and then in January the search for a new principal begins. Are these events connected? We do not know for sure, but it must be a strong suspicion. The Jisc archives hub holds material which suggests that the students were readmitted after 3 days, and an official enquiry launched by the Inspector for Training Colleges. This concluded that the food was fine, but discipline was lax.

    On 5 February 1891 the South Wales Daily News published the following letter:

    Allow me to call the attention of Welsh educationalists in general, and old Bangorians in particular, to the appointment of a new principal for the above college [Normal College, Bangor]. I understand that the ‘enemy’ its doing its utmost to shelve the only man entitled to the post – the honoured vice-principal, Mr John Price. It behoves Old Bangorians to be up and doing – that is, assuming sectarianism is trying to crush Mr Price. More anon, I am &c, Iwan.

    And then in April 1891 the appointment of John Price was announced, after an eight hour committee meeting/interview panel, with hints that the defeated candidate – Mr Keri Evans, a Congregationalist from Carmarthen College – was supported by a number of Calvinistic Methodists, and would surely be heard from again.

    Another time I will try to dig further into this. I may have to learn some theology to do so.

    On 2 July 1914 the North Wales Weekly News published the following report of a cricket match between Llanwrst and Normal College. It was a low scoring match. And, the tea interval being a highlight, clearly not one which gripped the reporter.

    The year before, Normal had beaten Llanwrst, and judging by the scorecard for both games it looks like some sort of time- or over-limited game was being played.

    The boat on the card is the MV St Trillo. This was built in 1936 at the Fairfield shipyard in Glasgow, for the Liverpool & North Wales Steam Ship Co. She was one of three pleasure steamers operated by the company along the north Wales coast; this blog post has details of the kinds of trips she would make. Originally called the St Silio, in 1945 she was renamed the St Trillo. In 1963 her owners folded, and St Trillo was bought by P&A Campbell. She continued to operate in North Wales and also in the Bristol Channel, between Cardiff and Weston-super-Mare. She was scrapped in 1975 in Dublin.

    Here’s the postcard as a jigsaw. I’m sorry that its such a tricky one this week, but as I said, I couldn’t resist the card. The card was posted in September 1958 to Mr and Mrs Budden in Liverpool 11:

    Ronnie and I are here for the day and it is glorious and the boat is packed. We were too late to post these so am writing on the boat. Hope you had a nice week, I phoned twice but guessed you were out. Am going to Pat’s on Friday, so will not be up this week. Will phone, Love Maurice

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  • Guilford College comes off accreditor probation after budget cuts

    Guilford College comes off accreditor probation after budget cuts

    Dive Brief:

    • Guilford College’s accreditor has removed the institution from probation after what its president described as significant improvements in financial management and operations, the college announced Tuesday.
    • Guilford President Jean Parvin Bordewich and a five-person delegation made their case over the weekend during a meeting with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges. The delegation pointed to expense cuts and a balanced budget for both fiscal 2025 and the first five months of the current fiscal year.
    • SACSCOC initially put Guilford, in North Carolina, on probation in 2023, flagging the college for weak financial processes and later for inadequate financial resources. “Now we are on sound financial footing and well positioned to fulfill our mission,” Bordewich said in a statement Tuesday.

    Dive Insight:

    Just six months ago, Guilford was on the hunt for cash as it raced to balance its budget for fiscal 2026 — a necessity for maintaining its accreditation beyond the December meeting with SACSCOC. At the time, Bordewich said the private, Quaker-founded college was “between the proverbial rock and a hard place.”

    Guilford has since “turbo-charged” its fundraising, doubling last year’s number of alumni donors in just four months, Bordewich told SACSCOC in prepared remarks last weekend. The college has received $7 million in unrestricted donations for the first third of fiscal 2026, more than 66% of its goal for the year. For the calendar year 2025, Guilford has received $12.6 million in unrestricted cash, nearly five times what it had last year. 

    The college has also made painful cuts and now operates with one-third fewer employees compared to a year ago. 

    In June, Guilford’s governing board opted not to declare financial exigency — a process invoked by institutions in financial distress so they can lay off tenured faculty. 

    However, some faculty chose early retirements and exits. Faculty also, with staff, accepted suspended retirement contributions, according to Bordewich. 

    In all, Guilford cut its operating expenses by $5.7 million in fiscal 2025 and by another $6.6 million in 2026. 

    “The College needed serious pruning,” Bordewich told SACSCOC. “We dug into the core of Guilford’s financial dysfunction, implemented changes, and month by month, the institution grew stronger.”

    Along with slashing its budget, the college has also raised new revenue. Beyond donations, it has sold some $400,000 in art and struck a $7.5 million development deal with the Piedmont Land Conservancy for 120 acres of the Guilford Woods. The land deal will open up access to the green space for the public while Guilford retains ownership.

    Many of Guilford’s financial woes have stemmed from sagging enrollment. Between 2018 and 2023, fall headcount declined 23.4% to 1,208 students. That number is down 57.3% from 2010. 

    Prior to this year, the college reported a $2.4 million operating deficit in fiscal 2024 and $4.7 million operating deficit in fiscal 2023.

    “This has never been about the student experience in or out of the classroom, which has remained exceptional,” Bordewich said Tuesday. “This has been about finances, and SACSCOC has now affirmed that we have the financial resources to support Guilford’s unique approach to a liberal arts education.”

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  • College Students Stress About Cost of Living Postgraduation

    College Students Stress About Cost of Living Postgraduation

    Graduation typically brings feelings of jubilation, but with the high cost of living and a competitive job market facing college graduates, students report feeling more anxious about their future prospects.

    A recent Student Voice survey by Inside Higher Ed and Generation Lab found that nearly one in five college students say their top stressor is affording life after graduation. A similar share worry that they don’t have enough internship or work experience to be successful. 

    The survey, fielded in August, includes responses from over 5,000 college students, including 1,000 two-year and nearly 2,000 first-generation college students. 

    “Stability is really important to this generation of job-seekers,” said Shawn VanDerziel, chief executive officer at the National Association of Colleges and Employers, citing the organization’s own student surveys. “For the last several years, students regularly report to us that, in their first job, the most important thing is stability.”

    That means having a reasonable living standard as well as an employer who provides sufficient benefits, work-life balance and assurances against layoffs, VanDerziel said.

    Christine Cruzvergara, chief education officer of the job board Handshake, said the trend doesn’t surprise her because it mirrors similar data her organization collected earlier this year, which found that AI, changes to federal policy and a competitive job market are among the factors impeding students’ confidence after graduation.

    “The cost-of-living piece is very real,” Cruzvergara said. “That is, anecdotally, something that we do hear from students, even in the four-year space: ‘Everything is so expensive; I don’t know how I’m going to be able to live.’”

    Nationally, the American public is feeling strained financially. A recent McKinsey survey found that 45 percent of consumers said “rising prices or inflation” is their top concern; an additional 24 percent pointed to their “ability to make ends meet,” and 19 percent cited job security and unemployment.

    “I know no one is going to hire me in an economy like this,” one student at New Mexico State University–Dona Ana wrote in the “other” response option on the Student Voice survey.

    The cost-of-living squeeze has pushed more graduates to consider housing and grocery prices when selecting a city to live in.

    “In the past, you may have found other things that have risen to the top, like vibrant nightlife, environmental issues, recreation. All those things are still on the list, but cost of living is No. 1 in the minds of graduates today,” VanDerziel said.

    Handshake has seen more applicants looking toward smaller markets, or “B-list cities,” for their first destination after college, “because you might be able to get a good enough job that you can actually have the quality of life that you’re looking for at the same time,” Cruzvergara said.

    Internships needed: Students’ perception that they lack skills and experience points to a growing need for higher education leaders to provide work-based learning to prepare students for the workforce. Some institutions now guarantee experiential learning or internships as part of their strategic plans, Cruzvergara said.

    “I’m pleased to hear that students are concerned about internship opportunities, because that tells me that they are in tune with what’s happening in the world and the fact that employers see internship experience as being the best of everything,” VanDerziel said.

    Four-year students are more likely to have enrolled in college directly after graduating from high school, which could explain why this group of students is more likely to fret about their lack of work experience, Cruzvergara said.

    “If they didn’t do an internship, or they only did a part-time job in the summer, they might feel as if they’re at a disadvantage because they haven’t been in a more traditional white-collar work environment,” Cruzvergara said. 

    Older students (25 and up) or those who have worked full-time were less likely to cite anxieties over a lack of work or internship experience, despite being statistically less likely to complete an internship while in college. Handshake data from earlier this year found that about one in eight students have not participated in an internship and do not expect to before finishing their degree, in large part due to time constraints caused by other work or homework, or because they weren’t selected for an internship role.

    While some employers value all work equally, others believe it’s important for students to have work experiences specific to their intended professions, VanDerziel said.

    A soft landing: College and university career centers can help address some of students’ anxieties about graduation by connecting them to employers the traditional way at career fairs, Cruzvergara said.

    “In the face of emerging AI in more industries, roles and sectors, I actually find that what’s become really quite popular again for students in order to get a job or an internship is good old-fashioned networking,” Cruzvergara said.

    Attendance at networking and employer-led events hosted on Handshake (either virtual or for registration purposes) has tripled this year, according to the job board’s data.

    “I know it’s not new; career centers have been doing this for a long time, but do we need to do it more? Do we need to do it in a different way?” Cruzvergara said.

    Colleges should also consider their own departments as employers to host interns.

    “The school is a business in and of itself that has all these different functions,” Cruzvergara pointed out. “So how are you creating an internship within your own finance department? How are you creating an internship within your own legal department?”

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  • College Spotlight – the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

    College Spotlight – the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD)

    Art students, take note. December’s College of the Month highlights Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which offers a collaborative, creative environment that will allow you to build an impressive portfolio while immersed in vibrant Savannah, Georgia. If that sounds exciting to you, read more about Aleece’s visit to SCAD!

    Read the blog.

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