OT: College enrollment and financial issues?

We were in Amherst MA for several days in April and drove through the Hampshire College campus on the way to the Carle Museum. Hampshire, founded in 1965, closed in May. They were a small (very) liberal arts college with a solid reputation, but have had fiscal challenges for years. When we were planning the trip, I reached out to an acquaintance who is an attorney in San Fran. He was on the Hampshire Board of Trustees for a decade and told we about some of the issues. Sad.

I had friends there and was occasionally on the rural campus near the beautiful small town, when we were at Rutgers. My best memory was the coed naked saunas in the "donut" dorms.

thegock said:

We were in Amherst MA for several days in April and drove through the Hampshire College campus on the way to the Carle Museum. Hampshire, founded in 1965, closed in May. They were a small (very) liberal arts college with a solid reputation, but have had fiscal challenges for years. When we were planning the trip, I reached out to an acquaintance who is an attorney in San Fran. He was on the Hampshire Board of Trustees for a decade and told we about some of the issues. Sad.

I had friends there and was occasionally on the rural campus near the beautiful small town, when we were at Rutgers. My best memory was the coed naked saunas in the "donut" dorms.

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But for Ken Burns they wouldn't have made it to this May.

mdk02 said:

But for Ken Burns they wouldn't have made it to this May.

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Dave Dinerman and Steve Hannock as well.

T2Kplus20 said:

Why would anyone consider an average at best college with a price tag of $90k? In that location, with that weather, etc.

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I don't consider the college worth 90k but they do have some departments that have stature. Their Newhouse School of Public Communications is pretty well regarded (just in sports there are grads like Bob Costas, Marv Albert, Len Berman, Ian Eagle, Sean McDonough, Greg Papa and more). I knew a girl at Columbia journalism school who had a prof get her a job at ABC news working for Jennings, and I think that happens a lot in a field like that (its tribal across lines). Emerson Collège in Boston is same type of college with a ton of entertainment grads that are tribal in career area. For 85K I think Emerson is better. I knew a major network president from there and he was always hooking people up with careers. I've long thought shopping a college by department can make more sense than overall rep.

SU is also popular in PA, Ohio and such since their location puts them close to middle states. SU still carries a lot of rep upstate but the decline of Rochester and Buffalo hurt a lot .Buffalo had a half million people in the 60s when Kodak and Xerox were hot but now its got 280k. From what I've gathered over recent years, NE colleges are the most overpriced and students like schools in south and southwest. Outside the NE there is also no stigma over public colleges and universities. Places like Wall St always want the Ivy tag but I don't think Ivies are what they used to be.

I just saw SU dropped majors and certificate programs. That's going to happen a lot more as economy tanks. I like the way UK charges by degree. Oxbridge, Edinburgh and such charge (for international students) almost half as much for history and lit degrees as for engineering. Top UK universities are considerably cheaper than US versions but no aid. Personally if I was a serious student today (I wasn't at 18) I would like international route.

Leonard23 said:

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I'm sure all of our alums who cry that RU doesn't kiss their behinds enough will respond in a thoughtful manner!

Fat Koko said:

The Syracuse collapse was pointed out months before the WSJ article.

Let's fast forward a decade or two. Syracuse will be begging the state to bail it out to create SUNY Syracuse. At the same time, New York will be struggling to close dozens of unnecessary rural SUNY campuses in remote parts of the state where college-bound students neither are created nor want to move.

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I don't think NYS is losing population enough for that, and the parts of NYS with increasing population are often affluent and universally pro education.

Downstate parents, be they first generation immigrants or white collar on LI or Westchester will find value in a SUNY degree. As opposed to PA or other states with problems. And the kids like being "away."

Rutgers Chris said:

The Stop n Shop phenomenon strikes New England

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Gen Z is going to TikTok, and their wealthy parents love bragging rights.

NotInRHouse said:

I don't think NYS is losing population enough for that, and the parts of NYS with increasing population are often affluent and universally pro education.

Downstate parents, be they first generation immigrants or white collar on LI or Westchester will find value in a SUNY degree. As opposed to PA or other states with problems. And the kids like being "away."

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The population of upstate New York is slowly evaporating, with central New York shrinking fastest. Not good for colleges in this region.

At the same time, the population is growing in the 5 boros, Long Island and Westchester.

Helps explain why Stony Brook has blown past Binghamton as the best SUNY.

Fat Koko said:

The population of upstate New York is slowly evaporating, with central New York shrinking fastest. Not good for colleges in this region.

At the same time, the population is growing in the 5 boros, Long Island and Westchester.

Helps explain why Stony Brook has blown past Binghamton as the best SUNY.
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IBM no longer has any presence in the area (Endicott- near Binghamton), where IBM was founded. Major brain drain in the area. Closest major tech company is over an our West- Corning Inc.

At its height, IBM employed as many as 18,000 people in Endicott. It's odd Binghamton bumped up in 2023, when the final employees left the Endicott office.

Fat Koko said:

Point is Rutgers will lose some qualified students to Southeast schools and Rutgers needs to do a better job offering the traditional college experience many kids seek. Still, Rutgers - and UMass - are thriving because the states are overflowing with immigrant families raising bright kids who go to the in state flagships. These families don't care if the football teams suck.

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- win something or some games you haven’t in Football
- have NB push a broom once in a while
- Rutgers specific…“relax, baby”