Quote from: MCScots2013 on June 26, 2026, 02:19:17 PMAre you sure about that?  I see your point, but tons of schools are adding graduate courses.  Schools that were strictly undergraduate 20 years ago when I was in high school and looking around, now shock me when I see how many graduate programs they have. I'm sure there are a lot of online classes, but graduate nonetheless.

I live in Virginia, so here are some examples in the region: Roanoke, Shenandoah, Averett (seemingly online), Bridgewater, E&H, Guilford, Methodist (now has a medical school), Greensboro, Lynchburg, Piedmont, Pfeiffer--given a few more minutes I can find more.

Let's take Guilford as an example, first.  The Guilford MBA is a 12-month program, tuition is $19,800.  When prompted to go to the "Financial Aid" page, it has an overview of the unsubsidized federal loans--no mention of scholarships. Another avenue for funding is tuition reimbursement as a benefit from employers.  Schools are getting wise to that and adding these programs.  Can't say I fault them, especially if you have the same faculty and you know beforehand the money is coming in.

Here's probably a better example: Roanoke, which has two MBA options. 4+1, and online 2-year self-paced.  Not  a terrible idea.

I'm not saying it's a good idea for every small colleges to rush to do this, but faced with the numbers issues they have to do something.

RMC started a Physicians Assistant grad program in 2023. https://www.rmc.edu/academics/physician-assistant-studies/#About-RMC-PA

Johns Hopkins layoffs.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/johns-hopkins-university-lays-off-over-100-employees-cites-federal-funding-cuts-2026-06-25/

Well, we now know that two of RMC's 2026-27 non-conference opponents will come from these seven schools: Chicago, Elmhurst, Emory, Keene State, Redlands, Trine and Wabash.

https://rmcathletics.com/news/2026/6/24/mens-basketball-mens-hoops-chosen-to-compete-in-nabc-tournament-series.aspx

Quote from: MCScots2013 on June 18, 2026, 05:34:18 PMI think we're most similar to Millsaps and Oglethorpe in the SAA.  Millsaps' endowment is tracking nearly identical to Maryville's ($100-110M) and revenues and expenses are similar as well. Oglethorpe's endowment is half of Maryville's.  I'm not saying that makes one better than the other, but I wouldn't think that Maryville's "wealth" is prohibitive to SAA success.  But, yeah, fair point about travel costs going out to San Antone a couple times a year.

Constant point of discussion on this thread: demographics are constraining enrollment (duh.).  Where we have an advantage is the fact Tennessee is growing and most MC students are in-state.  From 2020-2025, Tennessee's population grew almost 6% and over 22% of the population is under 18 years old (Census data).  I didn't go to high school in TN, but I think there are state grants for students to attend in-state private colleges.  That is naturally beneficial for MC as Tennessee--especially East Tennessee--grows.

A good time for a plug for the Alexander Institute.  If still on schedule, groundbreaking is slated for the Fall and then take 18 months to complete.  This will help get people on campus. Looking forward for all on the board to stop by on their vacations to the Smokies.  You'll literally drive past the entrance on US 321 in a couple years.

All of this suggests to me that the notion of MC adding Greek life to enhance enrollment seems unnecessary.

Quote from: DriftlessDuhawk on June 16, 2026, 06:21:48 PMI have been asked in my professional life what type of organizations I was in during my undergrad years and have been asked if I was in a fraternity. I always respond that I was in no such thing! Now I was in a male only organization in which we all shared a common set of beliefs, all hung out together, lived together in houses that were not always the most well kept, and would walk around campus with a slightly elevated ego. But a frat? No way!

While I enjoyed being in a fraternity at that point in my life I was, nevertheless, "different" from the majority of my fraternity brothers. Didn't party hard and was the guy who stayed up after the parties to clean the fraternity house. And it never occurred to me to include my fraternity membership on a resume thinking it might in some way advance my hireability. And I'm not sure fraternity membership ever came up in a job interview.

Quote from: el_jefe_90 on June 16, 2026, 09:49:31 AMI hear that Amr Areikat is attending Johns Hopkins University. No confirmation if he is playing basketball though.

I saw that as well. In the podcast I watched he indicated a desire to play another year, so I suspect we will see him on the Hopkins roster when it is posted. He will be a solid addition to their team.

Quote from: MCScots2013 on June 15, 2026, 12:31:04 PMSwitching gears:
What are some thoughts on Greek life for small colleges and universities?  Evidently Maryville has a committee to explore allowing Greek life on campus to help boost enrollment and retention.  There is currently one frat with a presence on campus, DKE, through a charter with the city (does that even count??).  Does Greek life seem to have a positive effect on increased enrollment?  Another way to compete with mid-size universities?

My sense is that Greek life in the 2020s isn't as big a deal as it was in the 1960s when I was at RMC. At that time, RMC was all men and there were about 750 students when I graduated. There were nine fraternities on campus. Today enrollment is coed with about 1,800 students. I suspect there are about the same number of men now (perhaps a few more) as back then. Now there are only six fraternities plus five sororities and one coed Greek organization. So twelve in all. Proportionally speaking there should be at least 18-20. Also, membership in individual fraternities is not quite as robust today. Having said that, the fraternity I was in, SAE, is thriving. But it is hard for me to see that adding Greek life would be that big a draw in terms of recruiting students in this day and age.

Quote from: Ron Boerger on June 07, 2026, 08:49:41 AMUnfortunately We Are D3 won't be able to participate this year, as TBT entry fee has been jacked up to $125K (total costs last year were around $15K).  Coach Rej has more on Xitter.  They don't rule out future participation and Rej talks about how the mission continues at the link. 

Coach Rej announcing that he is going to be the head coach of Heartfire at TBT this season: https://x.com/CoachRej/status/2065034624451944452

Quote from: WUPHF on June 11, 2026, 02:31:09 PMThe future of Division III is fewer tenure-track faculty lines, faculty layoffs, and faculty lamenting the lack of communication and transparency (or tough decisions, depending on your perspective) by the administration.

Not to divert from Division 3, but is that the future for higher education generally? Is there any segment that is immune?

^^^ Thanks for those insights/explanations.

Quote from: DagarmanSpartan on June 08, 2026, 10:42:53 PM

Quote from: WUPHF on June 08, 2026, 10:20:24 PM

Quote from: MCScots2013 on June 08, 2026, 09:31:49 PMUnless I'm missing something, the administration requested NIH cuts, but Congress didn't pass them. Correct me if I'm mistaken.

Congress sets the budget and the President spends it.

Basically.

All appropriations come from Congress.

The POTUS can't pay for anything without a Congressional appropriation; see Biden's attempt to pay off people's student loans without an appropriation from Congress.  Likewise, the POTUS/Exec Branch can't unilaterally cut off any funding that Congress has already appropriated; see Trump and his attempts to cut off PBS/NPR funding.

When it comes to money and taxes, it's all about Congress.

See the part I bolded above. I might be wrong about this, but aren't congressional appropriations about what money can be spent on, but not necessarily who actually gets the money. Aren't most NIH grants (and other government grants) competitive based on responses to requests for proposals? Thus the staff at NIH and at other government agencies are the ones who award grants, right? Yet, those decisions aren't necessarily immune from politics, as sometimes already approved (but not yet paid out) grant funds can be withheld for a variety of reasons, including politically motivated ones.

I will reiterate that I am not entirely certain how all this works. Also, I suspect that not all federal government spending is subject to grants in response to RFPs. In any case, just because congress has approved a vast array of appropriations across dozens of Cabinet departments/agencies, isn't a guarantee that it's all going to be spent according to the empowering legislation.

^^^ Not that it matters -- just noting. Ferrum, which is among the 58 schools that experienced three consecutive years of losses, and was still a D3 institution in '24-'25 (the last year of the dataset), is now a D2 school. And, BTW, their men's basketball team was 16-11 this past season. Not too bad for their first year in the division.

^^^ Interesting. A year before the Spectrum deal I mentioned above, the deal I got was to get a Spectrum phone and mobile service for $5.55/month. That was the monthly cost of the phone (not the mobile service) for 3 yrs. I thought it was locked in that way. Turns out it wasn't. At the end of the year they started charging $40.00 for the mobile service. I don't recall that this was explained to me at the time, but whatever. So I canceled the mobile service and paid off the balance of the phone. Now I have a phone sitting in a box, just like you have a router in a box.

^^^Yep. Every year I have to call Spectrum to see what kind of a renewal deal I can get on my internet. This year they actually increased my speed, sent me a new modem, and lowered the price by $10/month.

Quote from: deiscanton on May 18, 2026, 10:11:34 AMI just got an email this morning from FloSports telling me that when my annual subscription is up for renewal for the 2026-27 academic year on July 2, they wanted to raise my price for next year from $107.88 for the year that I paid last July (covering the 2025-26 academic year) to $119.88 for the new year.    I decided that I could not afford that price and would rather cancel the subscription for at least a few days in July to see if I could come up with that amount.   When I first attempted to cancel, FloSports counteroffered, offering to renew my subscription for next year at a 20% discount at $86.30 for next year payable on July 2 if I stayed on.  I have agreed to that counteroffer for the time being.   Hopefully on July 2, FloSports will honor their part of the bargain and allow me to keep FloCollege for the 2026-27 year at their offer to me of $86.30 for next year. 

I got the same email yesterday informing me that the renewal price for my subscription would be $119.88. This morning I went to my Flo account, clicked on "Subscription" and hit the "Cancel" link. Immediately the 20% discount offer popped up, so I accepted it, at which point a box popped up with this message: "Thank you for staying with us! Your next payment includes a 20% discount, and you'll continue enjoying full access to all your favorite content."

I'll find out on July 15th, when my credit card gets charged, if this is what actually happens.

Thanks, deiscanton, for letting us know about this.