Valpo's Financial Grade

[VUFan2021]

https://www.forbes.com/sites/schifrin/2021/02/22/college-financial-grades-2021-will-your-alma-mater-survive-covid/?sh=2063dbc44916

Interesting read from Forbes about financial health of universities across the States...there are some very familiar names with struggling finances...let's hope Valpo can continue to grow its endowment and attract quality students in the near term...Go Brown & Gold!

[crusadermoe]

There should be updated financial news coming from the university about the next year's budget at some point in the next month or two as budgets solidify and faculty enter contracts. 

I certainly don't know what they will be, but inevitably there will be large changes.  Moody's has raised concerns about VU bond rating and the Forbes financial grade of 2.05 (C) adds its red flag.

[NotBryceDrew]

The Forbes financial grade has been the same for the last few years. In fact I think it is ever so slightly up.

[crusadermoe]

So I guess we are all good.  Let's relax for the summer.

[David81]

The Forbes ratings may be as much a statement on the financial stability of U.S. higher education generally as it is about VU specifically. If you look at other schools in the C+ to C- range (with VU at a C), you'll find a lot of well-established, Midwestern peer schools and competitors, such as DePaul C+, Bradley C+, Drake C, Carthage C, Lake Forest C, IIT C, Evansville C, Capital C-, Wartburg C-, and so on.

[crusadermoe]

There is no doubt that Valpo is not alone in the midwest and even moreso in the "tweener" category of Bradley, Evansville, Drake et al.  These are not small enough to forego highly paid disciplines of faculty and also not large enough for economies of scale in campus services and facilities.

Unfortunately it is small comfort to know that others are struggling financially. But I suppose misery does love company. But you do make a good point that Valpo's leadership was not necessarily poor in its judgments along the way.  Too use the vague yet favored buzzword of the day in the media, the problems in this group are "systemic."

The August enrollment census will tell. In a non-COVID situation, we would know now within 5-10% the numbers we expect. Who knows?  Good news travels quickly and bad news travels slowly.  Any word on the numbers now on June 24?....less than 2 months before dorm move-ins.

[David81]

There is no doubt that Valpo is not alone in the midwest and even moreso in the "tweener" category of Bradley, Evansville, Drake et al.  These are not small enough to forego highly paid disciplines of faculty and also not large enough for economies of scale in campus services and facilities.

Unfortunately it is small comfort to know that others are struggling financially. But I suppose misery does love company. But you do make a good point that Valpo's leadership was not necessarily poor in its judgments along the way.  Too use the vague yet favored buzzword of the day in the media, the problems in this group are "systemic."

The August enrollment census will tell. In a non-COVID situation, we would know now within 5-10% the numbers we expect. Who knows?  Good news travels quickly and bad news travels slowly.  Any word on the numbers now on June 24?....less than 2 months before dorm move-ins.

Oh, I don't think anyone is taking comfort from the overall state of higher ed financing and its impact on individual schools. Rather, it's important to grasp that similar challenges confront a broad category of universities that includes VU. This is not an easy time to be doing recruitment and enrollment management, unless you're in a charmed circle of schools.

As for fall numbers, summer is the season of what the admissions folks call enrollment "melt," whereby many schools experience a loss of students who had earlier put down deposits. It can make for a very fluid numbers assessment going right through first-year orientation. Understandably, the melt was especially heavy last summer, when lots of students opted for a gap year or made alternative plans to earn college credits.