PASSHE Institutions Merging

[Fightingscot82]

https://www.datawrapper.de/_/ckMjQ/

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/ed...s/202111180130

Great point here in this article. The construction debt is based on the ability to recoup via housing fees. What I think we'll have to see is the universities subsidizing each others housing too. Maybe one rate across the board regardless of campus or configuration.

[Bart]

https://www.datawrapper.de/_/ckMjQ/

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/ed...s/202111180130

???????

WCU being the cheapest in both areas may account for how they get athletes without scholarships. Was it 5 for football?

[Fightingscot82]

WCU being the cheapest in both areas may account for how they get athletes without scholarships. Was it 5 for football?

That's football-only money though. They offer free housing or free meal plans as well but it doesn't count as football money. For some reason that's more common in the PSAC East than the West, who rarely offer waivers but make up for it with more scholarship dollars.

[Bart]

That's football-only money though. They offer free housing or free meal plans as well but it doesn't count as football money. For some reason that's more common in the PSAC East than the West, who rarely offer waivers but make up for it with more scholarship dollars.

Isn't easier to offer room and board when the cost is thousands less than the more expensive schools? Also, if an expensive school is offering only a partial scholarship, it may be less expensive for a student to attend WCU than say IUP.

[Horror Child]

That's football-only money though. They offer free housing or free meal plans as well but it doesn't count as football money. For some reason that's more common in the PSAC East than the West, who rarely offer waivers but make up for it with more scholarship dollars.

Where can one find that information, or can you post it here?

An objective observation of PASSHE enrollments would lead one to determine that West Chester doesn't have spare rooms. And if they did, why would they give them out for free when they could generate revenue from them? This is totally not the case elsewhere, especially in the west.

And you're saying if a school does give free housing or meal plans to an athlete, that doesn't count as athletic aid?

[Fightingscot82]

Where can one find that information, or can you post it here?

An objective observation of PASSHE enrollments would lead one to determine that West Chester doesn't have spare rooms. And if they did, why would they give them out for free when they could generate revenue from them? This is totally not the case elsewhere, especially in the west.

And you're saying if a school does give free housing or meal plans to an athlete, that doesn't count as athletic aid?

I've been told that by several reliable sources at PSAC schools and at the PSAC home office. All schools offer housing waivers - they can't discount tuition but they can budget to waive housing fees for a select number of students. Most schools have housing waivers for the neediest students. The meal plan waivers are usually built into the food service contracts with the vendors.

To count as athletic aid, it must be athletic aid available exclusively to athletes. So if housing & meal waivers are also available to general students, it doesn't count. If an athlete has a 1/4 academic scholarship and a 1/2 athletic scholarship with Pell & PHEAA covering the rest, he'll say he has a full ride because he doesn't pay anything but the school only reports a the 1/2 scholarship. Same with employee tuition waivers. So years ago Jimmy T went to ESU tuition-free and they would have only had to claim any athletic aid they gave him toward fees & room/board.

[Fightingscot82]

Truly national universities - not what US News says is a national university - are fine. They're holding steady or finding ways to enroll more students. Penn State has said their main campus is up 2% this year and Pitt found a way to bring in more students to the main campus and offset branch declines. Penn State doesn't publish enrollment until November but their branches are down. Pitt also hasn't released branch campus numbers but have acknowledged declines at all.

Regional universities like those in the PSAC are far more sensitive to local economies and their students are far more sensitive to price. Same goes for community colleges, which are down big time. I've read 20% in the last two years. Seton Hill is down 2% from last year, Duquesne is down 10% and RMU down 18% since the pandemic.

Cost is a factor - problem is that in a lot of communities there aren't clear alternative paths to decent jobs. Everyone talks about trades but if you don't have access to a quality trade school or union apprenticeship program, you're left out. In many rural small towns your options are living at home while working at Sheetz & Dollar General or going away to college. Military enlistments out of high school are also down mostly in line with demographic decline. Dad can't get you a $35/hr third shift job at the mill like he got. Mom's uncle's farm is now just an open field. Few17 and 18 year olds know about coding boot camps and Google courses or LinkedIn Learning. Everyone likes to say that college is overpriced and overrated but try getting a professional job without a degree.

Penn State branches down 8% from last year. Branches (not including online World Campus) are down 24% since 2000 but that also includes the law and medical colleges since they're technically not University Park. But even the World Campus is down from last year, the first year in its history that its lost enrollment. All SWPA branches are down significantly in the last decade:

Beaver: down 30% (555 students)
Fayette: down 54% (525 students)
Greater Allegheny (McKeesport): down 58% (396 students)
New Kensington: down 54% (492 students)

I'm trying to wade through their intentionally messy data to see about others like Shenango, DuBois, Behrend, etc.

[Bart]

New logos.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/pitts...-get-new-logos

[Fightingscot82]

New logos.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/pitts...-get-new-logos

They're alright. Inoffensive like the name. But like I said in the focus group for this very thing - no amount of marketing genius will make up for the eroding price advantage.

[Fightingscot82]

"The State System must clarify a muddled mission"
https://www.post-gazette.com/opinion...s/202112070006

[IUPNation]

https://vista.today/2021/12/west-che...uoFPY2fv96MyPA

[iupgroundhog]

https://vista.today/2021/12/west-che...uoFPY2fv96MyPA

WC is a great college town, IMO. But this list is like all the other "top" lists i.e. when you throw all these numbers together you don't know how it comes out. For example, Millersville isn't really a town. And Hazelton makes the top 10 college towns in PA? Yeah, right.

[Fightingscot82]

WC is a great college town, IMO. But this list is like all the other "top" lists i.e. when you throw all these numbers together you don't know how it comes out. For example, Millersville isn't really a town. And Hazelton makes the top 10 college towns in PA? Yeah, right.

I think a college town should identify as such, and some don't. Some of the towns on this list probably don't identify as a college town or even feel like one. Does Media qualify as a college town? I'd also argue Middletown's eligibility. Edinboro for years has tried to market itself as a "resort town" almost like Conneaut Lake when people know it as a college town. Funny that State College or Lewisburg didn't make the list. Those are great college towns but I guess if it made sense we wouldn't be talking about a website called HomeSnacks.

[Fightingscot82]

Ohio Valley University, an NAIA school in Vienna, WV will close at the end of the month: https://christianchronicle.org/break...ides-to-close/

[Bart]

The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education reported nearly $32 million in losses for the 2021 fiscal year


https://www.bizjournals.com/philadel...ent-dives.html