By: Dr. Tex for GSRA LTD

May 1st has come and gone and for many colleges and universities summer planning and preparation for the fall will need to wait in hope of a miracle over the next ninety days. From America’s Heartland to the deep South, through New England and across the West, institutions of higher learning are assessing the damage to budgets that were built in January based on enrollment projections that have not come to fruition in June.  While it should not be a surprise to those that are following higher education enrollment, the vast majority of institutions in trouble are small, private, not ideally located colleges that have been slow to build new programs of study, slow to develop extracurricular opportunities attractive to modern day students and paralyzed by the thought of canceling programs or services that are not sustainable at their institution.  A common resistance amongst the “troubled,” is an inability or unwillingness to develop partnerships with other institutions, embrace transfer students and think beyond the US boarders for enrollment. These institutions also share a common theme of poor student and staff retention and if it has not already happened, will shortly turn their collective institutional attention back to the enrollment operation which undoubtably is the reason for the shortfall and once again requires sweeping change in staff, market strategy and better recruiting. September 1 will be here sooner than anyone thinks and if these institutions now cutting their budgets to survive another year do not wake up to the realities before them in 2015, they will follow the lesson of Sweet Briar College who for years resisted change, arrogantly dismissed solid advice and now has closed. Without question there will be more to follow in 2016. Below is a list of institutions all still looking for enrollments for this coming September in hope of closing the gap between what is needed and how they will land ninety days from today.

Source:

NACAC COLLEGE OPENINGS 2015 –

College Openings Update 2015