PASSHE Institutions Merging

[The P in IUP]

Things continue to be bad for Alderson-Broaddus

https://wvmetronews.com/2023/07/31/e...rson-broaddus/

[Fightingscot82]

Correct. IUP's marketing is horrendous.

Greenstein is quoted in an article in the Chronicle of Higher Ed about "public regional universities" like PASSHE being unable to sell themselves, even the price value. For years they only had to process applications and enough people just showed up.

[GoldenRam94]

Back in the early 2000's until the market bubble in 2008, Berks county and Lancaster County saw a large spurt of new Home Construction. I moved from Delaware to Berks County in 2005 and was a part of it.

Those kids born then are now heading off to college, and Millersville, and Kutztown, see the advantage of that, with Ship and Bloom to some degree as well.

[IUPNation]

Correct. IUP's marketing is horrendous.

Let the College of Business do the marketing. Who getter yo market a school than students?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They have to market all that stuff and they don't have a marketing mentality. In fact, they let the marketing people go.

Correct. IUP's marketing is horrendous.

[Ship69]

"Power rankings" of PASSHE campuses:(My opinions in bold)

1. West Chester - Enrollment down but still steady. Emptying their cash reserves so it doesn't keep getting stolen to cover losses elsewhere.(enrollment growth probably maxed out and will trend slowly downward - agree about the reserves)
2. Slippery Rock - Enrollment up 1.5%. Housing over capacity. Third-most cash reserves. Major renovation to Morrow Fieldhouse coming in 2025 that will be big.(it's still Slippery Rock to me)
3. Millersville - Enrollment up big for some reason. Largest increase in the system.( Ville has followed their quality model for many years, resulting in a higher power ranking)
4. Kutztown - Basically holding steady in a good way.(Geographically well situated)
5. Bloomsburg - would be #4 if not pulled down by having to manage two other campuses.(I doubt it. Bloom lost identity but they were going down and I think in the long run the merger helps Bloom)
6. Shippensburg - Enrollment slightly up. Holding steady but a big divide between Ship and the rest below.(interestingly, the area has grown recently and they have their engineering programs)
7. East Stroudsburg - Tons of town/gown challenges with student behavior. (Not important - I guess there isn't much else to say about ESU)
8. California - Penn West is dragging them down, otherwise they'd be higher. Similar challenge to IUP - a lot of folks assume things are great like its 2009.( I don't think PennWest is dragging them down any more than they were already being dragged down)
9. Lock Haven - Scuffling but the Commonwealth merger is helping. Town is taking hits too. Wrestling returning to supremacy.(LHU was positioned to do better pre-merger. What hits to the town are you talking about? I agree with the wrestling. LHU looking towards a 3rd straight MAC title and maybe a top 15 NCAA finish)
10. Mansfield - Would be #11 if not for the Commonwealth merger keeping them propped up. (What? Mansfield would be dead last no matter how you slice it. Mounties are propped up with or without the merger)
11. IUP - Enrollment just keeps dropping and the layoffs keep coming. 4 student-facing people let go this week. Most alumni have no clue what's going on. (We are hoping. There is the new science building and the foundations for the medical school. Plus, it is IUP. I think alumni know what is going on)
12. Cheyney - With West Chester carrying much of the back end management, they're financially sound. If they brought back athletics they'd be golden. (Cheyney finally came up with a viable model to move forward. In the future, athletics could increase their visibility. But it's academics first)
13. Edinboro - Somehow ended up the loser of the Penn West merger. Enrollment and athletics in freefall. Campus is a ghost town. At least the town is doing alright. (I truly am sorry for Boro but they were lost before the merger. There were no good options)
14. Clarion - You know how when you're emptying a tub the water starts moving faster around the drain right before its done? That's Clarion. (While endangered, I don't think Clarion is as endangered as Edinboro. I think CU has a geographic advantage and an advantage with key programs that Edinboro doesn't have. Still, it's obviously a dire situation)

Ship is right on the border of Cumberland and Franklin counties. Cumberland is the fastest-growing county in Pa., and Franklin has decent growth rate.

Millersville has done a good job of marketing in the midstate.

[Fightingscot82]

I just don't get why these kids aren't flocking to IUP.

It's in an actual town...things to go to.

The campus is lovely.

It's a better school.

We have winning teams. Well...the ones that matter.

Yet....they choose to go to Slimey Icky Pebble?

What the **** is wrong with today's youth?

I posted some stuff online this week and someone I know with several high school and college aged kids told me that of all the western PASSHE schools Slippery Rock was the only one where their student felt wanted and important. All the others were simply going through the motions telling them about the school and nothing to sell them. There was no true pitch or hook. All bland information.

[iupgroundhog]

I just don't get why these kids aren't flocking to IUP.

It's in an actual town...things to go to.

The campus is lovely.

It's a better school.

We have winning teams. Well...the ones that matter.

Yet....they choose to go to Slimey Icky Pebble?

What the **** is wrong with today's youth?

They have to market all that stuff and they don't have a marketing mentality. In fact, they let the marketing people go.

[IUPNation]

Applications don't mean much anymore. The Common App allows kids to apply to 20 schools with one application. Athletics also drives a lot of applications - that scholarship offer is contingent on acceptance so a lot of the kids offered hurry up and submit an application without much true interest in coming to IUP.

IUP could have 10,000 applicants and accept 5,000 of them - but all that really matters is how many of the 5,000 actually enroll. That's what our schools are terrible at doing.

I just don't get why these kids aren't flocking to IUP.

It's in an actual town...things to go to.

The campus is lovely.

It's a better school.

We have winning teams. Well...the ones that matter.

Yet....they choose to go to Slimey Icky Pebble?

What the **** is wrong with today's youth?

[iupgroundhog]

"Power rankings" of PASSHE campuses:(My opinions in bold)

1. West Chester - Enrollment down but still steady. Emptying their cash reserves so it doesn't keep getting stolen to cover losses elsewhere.(enrollment growth probably maxed out and will trend slowly downward - agree about the reserves)
2. Slippery Rock - Enrollment up 1.5%. Housing over capacity. Third-most cash reserves. Major renovation to Morrow Fieldhouse coming in 2025 that will be big.(it's still Slippery Rock to me)
3. Millersville - Enrollment up big for some reason. Largest increase in the system.( Ville has followed their quality model for many years, resulting in a higher power ranking)
4. Kutztown - Basically holding steady in a good way.(Geographically well situated)
5. Bloomsburg - would be #4 if not pulled down by having to manage two other campuses.(I doubt it. Bloom lost identity but they were going down and I think in the long run the merger helps Bloom)
6. Shippensburg - Enrollment slightly up. Holding steady but a big divide between Ship and the rest below.(interestingly, the area has grown recently and they have their engineering programs)
7. East Stroudsburg - Tons of town/gown challenges with student behavior. (Not important - I guess there isn't much else to say about ESU)
8. California - Penn West is dragging them down, otherwise they'd be higher. Similar challenge to IUP - a lot of folks assume things are great like its 2009.( I don't think PennWest is dragging them down any more than they were already being dragged down)
9. Lock Haven - Scuffling but the Commonwealth merger is helping. Town is taking hits too. Wrestling returning to supremacy.(LHU was positioned to do better pre-merger. What hits to the town are you talking about? I agree with the wrestling. LHU looking towards a 3rd straight MAC title and maybe a top 15 NCAA finish)
10. Mansfield - Would be #11 if not for the Commonwealth merger keeping them propped up. (What? Mansfield would be dead last no matter how you slice it. Mounties are propped up with or without the merger)
11. IUP - Enrollment just keeps dropping and the layoffs keep coming. 4 student-facing people let go this week. Most alumni have no clue what's going on. (We are hoping. There is the new science building and the foundations for the medical school. Plus, it is IUP. I think alumni know what is going on)
12. Cheyney - With West Chester carrying much of the back end management, they're financially sound. If they brought back athletics they'd be golden. (Cheyney finally came up with a viable model to move forward. In the future, athletics could increase their visibility. But it's academics first)
13. Edinboro - Somehow ended up the loser of the Penn West merger. Enrollment and athletics in freefall. Campus is a ghost town. At least the town is doing alright. (I truly am sorry for Boro but they were lost before the merger. There were no good options)
14. Clarion - You know how when you're emptying a tub the water starts moving faster around the drain right before its done? That's Clarion. (While endangered, I don't think Clarion is as endangered as Edinboro. I think CU has a geographic advantage and an advantage with key programs that Edinboro doesn't have. Still, it's obviously a dire situation)

[Fightingscot82]

I thought applications were up at IUP?

Applications don't mean much anymore. The Common App allows kids to apply to 20 schools with one application. Athletics also drives a lot of applications - that scholarship offer is contingent on acceptance so a lot of the kids offered hurry up and submit an application without much true interest in coming to IUP.

IUP could have 10,000 applicants and accept 5,000 of them - but all that really matters is how many of the 5,000 actually enroll. That's what our schools are terrible at doing.

[iupgroundhog]

I thought applications were up at IUP?

It's just an opinion. Beyond the basic trends, I disagree with a lot of that assessment.

[IUPNation]

I thought applications were up at IUP?

[Fightingscot82]

State system is beyond a bad joke. Too many schools seems to be the problem for the last 20 YEARS. Closing a few would go a long way, just sayin.

Only the state legislature can close a university. They can't even pass a budget they've agreed upon. The chancellor can compel a merged university to close a campus. The Board of Governors overseeing PASSHE has been a joke for too long. The chair is married to the very rich and politically powerful owner of Giant Eagle but has never donated a penny to any one PASSHE school. The best thing that's happened to PASSHE in the last 25 years is a chancellor who asked for big money with data to support and some politicians on the board bargaining for that big ask in exchange for tuition freezes. I'd venture to say that the bulk of the individual school Councils of Trustees are jokes, which is why the schools are struggling.

Power rankings of PASSHE campuses:

1. West Chester - Enrollment down but still steady. Emptying their cash reserves so it doesn't keep getting stolen to cover losses elsewhere.
2. Slippery Rock - Enrollment up 1.5%. Housing over capacity. Third-most cash reserves. Major renovation to Morrow Fieldhouse coming in 2025 that will be big.
3. Millersville - Enrollment up big for some reason. Largest increase in the system.
4. Kutztown - Basically holding steady in a good way.
5. Bloomsburg - would be #4 if not pulled down by having to manage two other campuses.
6. Shippensburg - Enrollment slightly up. Holding steady but a big divide between Ship and the rest below.
7. East Stroudsburg - Tons of town/gown challenges with student behavior.
8. California - Penn West is dragging them down, otherwise they'd be higher. Similar challenge to IUP - a lot of folks assume things are great like its 2009.
9. Lock Haven - Scuffling but the Commonwealth merger is helping. Town is taking hits too. Wrestling returning to supremacy.
10. Mansfield - Would be #11 if not for the Commonwealth merger keeping them propped up.
11. IUP - Enrollment just keeps dropping and the layoffs keep coming. 4 student-facing people let go this week. Most alumni have no clue what's going on.
12. Cheyney - With West Chester carrying much of the back end management, they're financially sound. If they brought back athletics they'd be golden.
13. Edinboro - Somehow ended up the loser of the Penn West merger. Enrollment and athletics in freefall. Campus is a ghost town. At least the town is doing alright.
14. Clarion - You know how when you're emptying a tub the water starts moving faster around the drain right before its done? That's Clarion.

[Iupgh]

So it's three unique partnerships to explore different types of shared services or future innovation.

Cal and Clarion are going explore online driven programs.

Edinboro and Slippery Rock are exploring shared back end functions plus trying a unified admissions plan.

Mansfield and Lock Haven are going to pursue creating non degree credentials to promote lifelong learning and career pivots without requiring a new degree.

These are not mergers. They're exploring different models of the larger system redesign.

State system is beyond a bad joke. Too many schools seems to be the problem for the last 20 YEARS. Closing a few would go a long way, just sayin.