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Post by ceharv on Aug 22, 2023 7:13:48 GMT -5
Although I do not believe Bonas competes for students with WVU, what has is happening there is concerning as it is based on a problem we cannot ignore - not enough potential students to go around. Facing a $45M budget shortfall that could reach $75M+ in several years, and I guess anticipating a significant downturn in enrollment, WVU is laying off dozens of employees, plus cutting dozens of undergraduate majors, including virtually all foreign languages, plus dozens of graduate programs, to stay afloat financially. Its students are protesting and if the layoffs include tenured professors, I would expect years of litigation. This highlights Bonas success at keeping enrollment numbers steady.
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Post by ChrisMoses35 on Aug 22, 2023 9:19:31 GMT -5
Although I do not believe Bonas competes for students with WVU, what has is happening there is concerning as it is based on a problem we cannot ignore - not enough potential students to go around. Facing a $45M budget shortfall that could reach $75M+ in several years, and I guess anticipating a significant downturn in enrollment, WVU is laying off dozens of employees, plus cutting dozens of undergraduate majors, including virtually all foreign languages, plus dozens of graduate programs, to stay afloat financially. Its students are protesting and if the layoffs include tenured professors, I would expect years of litigation. This highlights Bonas success at keeping enrollment numbers steady. Some of the larger research universities were staffed to support large enrollments that may have peaked 5-10 years ago. Unlike WVU, SBU has virtually always been between 1,700 - 2,000 undergraduates for the last 50 years and does not seem to have excess staffing in many areas. Will dwindling birth rates impact SBU? Yes, but I think not necessarily being tied to just your state or region has it's benefits. West Va is a tiny state and its population continues to decline. 54% of students are from in state and while out of state students are very common, students do not want to pay triple the cost out of state for a very average degree. Not saying SBU is some elite school by any means, but they tend to give very good financial aid packages. I'm not sure WVU does the same for out of state students. It looks like WVU is around $45K for COA out of state and the average financial aid package is $9,500. Would you really want your kid to go ~$140K in debt for an undergrad degree from a school like WVU when they can get a better education in state at a cheaper cost at a school like Maryland, Rutgers, Penn State or NC State, etc.? Many people probably felt the same about Bona before they added programs that had a much higher ROI. SBU needs to continue to add these type of programs to remain competitive going forward. If your kid wants to be an elementary education teacher, would you really want them to go to SBU over Geneseo/ UB/ Albany given their outcomes will likely be similar? Bonaventure is now $55K for COA for all students and the average net price to attend for last year's freshman class was $16,000 per year according to SBU. That would bring your total cost to be ~$64,000 for four years. Yes, still very expensive, but somehow roughly $76K cheaper over 4 years for an undergraduate degree. So long as SBU remains cost competitive while offering programs that will allow students to get high-paying jobs upon graduation, we will be OK. |
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Post by towniegrad on Aug 23, 2023 12:16:05 GMT -5
Bona is not really competitive with SUNY schools in costs ,and is also more expensive than Niagara and Canisius .
Bona students in the village drive high end late model vehicles...Costs don’t seem to be a determining factor in enrollment decisions right now
If demographics in the she college age group continue to decline...many schools will face challenges.
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Post by ChrisMoses35 on Aug 23, 2023 12:55:23 GMT -5
I think SBU's initial sticker price deters people while many assume state schools are much cheaper.
SBU is cheaper after aid than UB. Buffalo is $30,240 for tuition +Room and board...Average COA for one year is $19,344, which is $3,000 more than Bona.
No reason for SBU to be like La Salle that cut their tuition by a third and then experienced a massive enrollment dip. Right or wrong, students and their family associate price with quality. So long as Bona continues to offer practical and lucrative fields for students, we will be OK.
It's not exactly a secret that SBU has been trying to increase their presence in New England, LI and NJ for a long time for obvious reasons.
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Post by towniegrad on Aug 23, 2023 14:44:14 GMT -5
Checking again bona looks about 10,000 more than ub after aid at both schools....the schools,programs , locations and admission requirements differ.
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Post by thesocalkid on Aug 24, 2023 6:30:15 GMT -5
I want to thank all of the parents and students for attending St Bonaventure University
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Post by ceharv on Aug 24, 2023 7:41:49 GMT -5
Things didn’t end well for Wick - the specifics of which need not be rehashed here - but I give him credit for realizing Bonas needed to stop relying on the pipeline of students from a relatively small number of regional Catholic high schools and had to get its name out to a larger number of potential students throughout the northeast by emphasizing its positives, including the hoops team, and getting out of our insular comfort zone of prospective students, which his successors have continued and expanded on recently. The fact that in this challenging environment we keep reading that enrollment numbers are at record levels, or close thereto, is a real credit to a bunch of people who have quietly worked hard in relative anonymity in Hopkins Hall, and yeah, some of us alums also.
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Post by chrismoses on Aug 24, 2023 7:58:40 GMT -5
Things didn’t end well for Wick - the specifics of which need not be rehashed here - but I give him credit for realizing Bonas needed to stop relying on the pipeline of students from a relatively small number of regional Catholic high schools and had to get its name out to a larger number of potential students throughout the northeast by emphasizing its positives, including the hoops team, and getting out of our insular comfort zone of prospective students, which his successors have continued and expanded on recently. The fact that in this challenging environment we keep reading that enrollment numbers are at record levels, or close thereto, is a real credit to a bunch of people who have quietly worked hard in relative anonymity in Hopkins Hall, and yeah, some of us alums also. Amen, Ceharv. Dr. Dennis laid a great foundation and his successors have done a great job continuing that for SBU. Most people speak fondly of the time at Bona's and that helps with recruiting as well. |
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