Quote from: MCScots2013 on Yesterday at 10:47:29 AM

Quote from: WUPHF on Yesterday at 09:34:10 AMMary Baldwin University has been placed on probation by their accrediting body.

https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/education/2026/06/30/mary-baldwin-probation-what-it-means-for-accreditation/90746332007/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Trying times for schools in this general area.  Lynchburg is/was(?) on warning, E&H and Guilford were just removed from probation over finances and the saga continues in Danville for Averett.  Ferrum has been in the red 4 years running.  Marymount (Arlington) is holding on by a thread and has had its run-ins with accreditors.  There's a D2 school in East Tennessee, Tusculum, that isn't in the greatest shape either which is sad because Tusculum is the oldest college in Tennessee (1794). King University in Bristol is another one facing immediate challenges.

Correcting myself.  King is removed from Warning with the recent June 2026 Accreditation Actions and Public Disclosure Statements. Found here

For football, losing Millsaps isn't as much as a drag as losing Berry, Trinity or Centre. With that in mind, what's the chances a 9-1 or 8-2 SAA champ doesn't get an at-large bid?  Has to be low, right?

I think LaGrange would be an interesting addition for the simple fact the two football playing D3 schools in GA would be in the same conference.  If LaGrange (or Huntingdon for that matter) leave the USAC to join the SAA, Gallaudet can jump into their spot as you mention. This seems fairly plausible and the 'easiest' fix.

W&L joining the SAA would leave a hole in the ODAC and that would be tough to fill unless E&H or Ferrum come back to D3.  CNU is a no-go for that spot since they are a public university.

If what is being reported is true regarding over 400 schools in danger of closing in the next decade, we may see a world where the SAA is split in two with half joining remaining SCAC/ASC schools and the other half joining remaining ODAC/USAC schools.

Quote from: WUPHF on Yesterday at 09:34:10 AMMary Baldwin University has been placed on probation by their accrediting body.

https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/education/2026/06/30/mary-baldwin-probation-what-it-means-for-accreditation/90746332007/?utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Trying times for schools in this general area.  Lynchburg is/was(?) on warning, E&H and Guilford were just removed from probation over finances and the saga continues in Danville for Averett.  Ferrum has been in the red 4 years running.  Marymount (Arlington) is holding on by a thread and has had its run-ins with accreditors.  There's a D2 school in East Tennessee, Tusculum, that isn't in the greatest shape either which is sad because Tusculum is the oldest college in Tennessee (1794). King University in Bristol is another one facing immediate challenges.

Damn. Looks like I jinxed the SAA.

The CCS was a weird experiment, and if I'm being honest, something I never thought highly of since I'm a football alum.  We were established in the conference (for a long time) and felt like some schools were run off after the USAC grew too big too fast. The conference was the island for misfit toys and everyone got an invite.

The ASC/SCAC comment was directly pointed to football and the highly prized AQ.

How about prior 2 years' average NPI above a certain level gets an AQ?  If a smaller conference has good teams then they benefit, if they fall off then they don't get a bid.

Or, pool (with a little "p") smaller conferences in a particular region together and highest NPI between the teams gets the AQ. Looking at you, ASC and SCAC...

Fair point about limiting number of conference members. Remember the USA South a few years back that had schools split off to form the CCS. There was an ungodly number of USAC teams before the split.

I think I'm genuinely missing your point, but Roanoke's MBA started in 2023 and Guilford's (and E&H's) 2022. Lynchburg, a little surprisingly, started in the mid-00s.

Are 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.

 

I agree.  Went up there the year after I graduated for a football game.  Wish we had their fieldhouse! 

They are expanding, too.  Just paid what seems to be a ridiculous amount of money for the "Food City Sports Complex".  Either lights and parking lots cost a lot more than I realized or they must not care. I've seen figures between $13.5 and 15 million.  Lost of articles with not many pictures of plans or updates.  Did find one with the term "Phase 1" so maybe that's the difference in my monetary expectations. E&H Food City Sports Complex

For reference, Maryville spent $3 million on their track a couple years ago.

Is there some sort of federal aid/grant advantage or a difference to the discount rate for schools to go the D2 or NAIA route and give small athletic scholarships?  Seems like they are robbing Peter to pay Paul and, as you allude to, would rather have the prestige of being a scholarship school.  (Sadly, I think that is not working for a lot of D2's in the Southeast.  Several seem to be running into trouble.)

Now if we can just get the transfer portal under control, we'd be on to something.  I'm old enough to remember when people actually cared about National Signing Day and guys didn't change schools faster than they changed socks.

Back to D3, though.  Interesting possibilities if D3 adopted the same 5/5 model:
1. as you mentioned, an increase of good D3 talent transferring to D1 and D2 schools for a graduate year.  Always fun to see that happen. Talent is talent!
2. more undergraduate schools will start graduate programs, or
3. schools with very small graduate enrollment will grow offerings to keep from "passing off" a student to another school for the 5th year.

Interesting development for Averett...

From: 15 Things to Know About Virginia Budget Deal (Cardinal News)

7. George Mason University/Averett University

Del. David Reid, D-Loudoun County, has pushed for a formal partnership between the public school in Northern Virginia and the private school in Danville as a way to expand GMU's reach. The budget deal includes the language to make that happen. It's unclear what that will mean in practice, but the budget language authorizes George Mason to work with Averett on both undergraduate and graduate programs as well as other workforce-related issues. There's no money attached, but the language lists multiple groups that would be allowed to help fund this work, including the GO Virginia economic development program, the Tobacco Commission, the Virginia Economic Development Partnership, the Danville Regional Foundation and other nonprofits.

"I'm pleased GMU will now have official authorization to move forward in what is probably the most dynamic economic area of the Commonwealth," Reid said in a text message.

Agree. Doesn't seem like it got much scrutiny in the formula.

Quote from: y_jack_lok on June 19, 2026, 09:34:33 AM

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.

I would agree.  Seems like an unnecessary hassle. 

Quote from: Ron Boerger on May 28, 2026, 08:37:46 AMForbes last week published a "Financial GPA" for nearly 1000 private colleges in the US.  I could not open this in Chrome but could in DuckDuckGo (might be me).  The maximum GPA is 4.5 and letter grades were assigned.  I'll list the components used in calculating the average below, and you can read this non-paywalled edit: a now paywalled article describes the overall methodology in detail.  SAA schools are almost all in more than decent shape, and the conference overall is doing better than most.  Organized in order of GPA, the grades are:

• Millsaps - 4.5/A+
• Sewanee - 4.5/A+
• Trinity - 4.5/A+
• Berry - 4.49/A+
• Southwestern - 4.49/A+
• Centre - 4.38/A+
• Rhodes - 4.06/A
• Maryville - 2.93/B-
• Oglethorpe - 1.6/D
• Overall:  3.94/A-

Components used in the calculation:

• Endowment Assets Per FTE (15%)
• Three Year Average UNAEP to Expenses (15%) [UNAEP=Unrestricted Net Assets Exclusive of Plant (Property, and Equipment)]
• Primary Reserve Ratio (10%)
• Viability Ratio (10%)
• Core Operating Margin (10%)
• 2-Year Enrollment Growth (10%)
• Tuition As A Percentage of Core Revenues (7.5%)
• Return On Assets (7.5%)
• Net Tuition Revenue Per Student (7.5%)
• Instruction Expenses Per FTE (7.5%)

I do admit to being surprised to see Millsaps up there with the other A+ schools; good for the Majors!  Unfortunately, the full article, which may allow you to dive in for further details, is behind a paywall and I'm not motivated enough to pay $12.99+tax to find out.  Despite Oglethorpe's low grade (endowment ~$50M, losing money annually), there are literally hundreds of colleges that graded lower. 

I think Millsaps' endowment per FTE is helping them...~575 students with 100M+ endowment. Likewise, Oglethorpe has 2.5x the enrollment and half the endowment.