Future of Division III

[smedindy]

While an endowment is not an open wallet, a nice sized endowment can keep doors open by offering monies to programs and scholarships, while tuition-dependent privates are at a big disadvantage.

What builds endowment? Fundraising and research. For small privates, it's definitely fundraising. I think that religious small privates thought that their churches would help them and / or encourage donors, but that's not the case. Church donors seem to be very localized for a particular church or parish, and not generally national in scope.

I know some denominations are sitting on a blank-ton of money, but it again may be restricted or set aside for emergencies, as it were.

[MCScots2013]

Good point on the church relationships.  I recently read "Tenth Watch", the memoir of the 10th Maryville President, Gerald Gibson, and he made it very clear the church relationship was not what he had hoped for when he assumed the presidency in 1993.  It took several years to rebuild the relationship.  MC is a Presbyterian affiliated college and it seems like it was "in name only" for a long time.  The large local session has long supported MC, but the Synod and Presbytery were lacking in support.

[Kuiper]

I don't know if this OAC-HCAC Announcement is truly new, but I suspect that "strategic" alliances like this may become more common as conferences grapple with closures and departures.

The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference and the Ohio Athletic Conference have entered into a formal strategic alliance designed to preserve competitive opportunities, support sustainable sport sponsorship and provide greater stability for NCAA Division III student-athletes and member institutions.

Approved by the Councils of Presidents of both conferences, the agreement establishes a framework through which the HCAC and OAC can collaborate on strategic initiatives, scheduling opportunities, affiliate membership arrangements and other areas of mutual interest while each maintains their own independent governance and operational models.

The agreement reflects a shared commitment to proactively address challenges facing Division III athletics and institutions, while creating opportunities for responsible and sustainable growth of both leagues and their sport offerings.

A central focus of this partnership is preserving access to NCAA championship opportunities for students of both conferences. If a sport in either conference is at risk of falling below the membership threshold required to maintain NCAA automatic qualification, the conferences may work together through scheduling assistance, affiliate membership arrangements or other mutually agreed-upon measures.

The agreement also creates a foundation for cooperation involving emerging and growing sports. By providing greater consistency and security in scheduling and sport sponsorship, the alliance can help institutions explore new athletic opportunities, knowing they will have teams to compete against, while responding thoughtfully to changes in existing programs.

For prospective student-athletes and their families, that cooperation can provide greater confidence in the long-term availability of competitive opportunities. For current student-athletes, it reinforces both conferences' commitment to protecting meaningful conference and postseason experiences.

This last point is something people in Texas dealing with the back-and-forth of the SCAC-ASC over the last few years would appreciate

The partnership also includes a mutual commitment that neither conference will solicit a core member of the other without approval through the conferences' respective governance processes. That provision further reflects the alliance's emphasis on trust, stability and the continued strength of both organizations.

[IC798891]

Here is my pitch to Albright.

Develop a plan to develop an on-campus retirement home.

Book an appointment with Senator Fetterman and ask for USDA and other funding.  Bring a box of Albright Football hoodies.

Build an institution that is 50-70% traditional undergraduates, 30-50% retired baby boomers interested in campus life, life long learning programs, etc.

Develop or expand programs that serve the elderly including nursing, physician assistants, etc.

This is a really good idea but...probably far too late if they're at the stage described.

Ithaca College did something kinda similar to this, though the senior living community they help build and that they have developed a partnership with is across the street, not on campus. You can read about the partnership in depth here.

https://www.ithaca.edu/news/taking-longview

But the short version is, they came up with the idea in 1989, and didn't cut a ribbon on the new facility with all the programming until 2000. Now, I'm guessing your plan would involve the campus using their existing infrastructure and outside funding, which could cut down on the timeline. But, even some of the other things you're proposing take time. To wit, IC's person who was in charge of developing the academic/learning partnerships said:

"I spent three to four years talking to faculty and staff from across the college—including those in the humanities, music, and [former] allied health programs—about the educational opportunities they wanted to provide. The goal was to help our programs meet their educational objectives by including interactions with the residents as part of their curriculum."

Again, it's not apples to apples. (The residents of the living community in Ithaca aren't actually an official part of campus, etc.) But it's a good framework for how intensive/time consuming something like this can be. Does Albright have that kind of time, and those resources?

Because while Ithaca's then-president had a great vision, he also had the luxury of implementing it at a time when the college was thriving and growing and you could devote resources and efforts into something that would not bring an ROI for awhile.

[WUPHF]

This is a really good idea but...probably far too late if they're at the stage described.

Ithaca College did something kinda similar to this, though the senior living community they help build and that they have developed a partnership with is across the street, not on campus. You can read about the partnership in depth here.

Thanks for sharing, that is very interesting, and something I had mostly never seen before, other than some institutions that would open their dorms to retirees over the summer.

[Ron Boerger]

A former D2 (and possibly prior NAIA) institution, the University of the Incarnate Word, opened a senior living facility in 1990 after deciding to create one in 1986.  They added capabilities and capacity several times since then, most recently in 2007.  The university went D1 in 2013 where they have basically been uncompetitive due to limited resources since.

[y_jack_lok]

This from the WSJ is not exclusive to D3, but relevant nonetheless: https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/colleges-restricted-endowments-financial-trouble-247c7d3c?mod=e2fb&fbclid=IwY2xjawTeWSdwZG9mBWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMXRJdmN6VjVNbGR0V1ExTVRzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeGndJM8tHEniOKS9ymecyBA1CyRjB4GS5rBTrw33CcOi6e3Q6BRFfV9c6PsI_aem_pFhYHuiu9V05mJEKU-6V_Q

"Nearly 200 private colleges borrowed from restricted endowments in 2025, up from 131 in 2021, according to estimates from Perspective Data Science, a higher-education financial consultant. Schools used most of the money for everyday expenses, said Matthew Hendricks, the company's founder.

'This is going to be a huge problem as small colleges close,' said Joanne Florino, a fellow at Philanthropy Roundtable, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of philanthropists. 'A lot of living donors are finding out the money they donated is not being used for what they gave it for.'"

And further in the article: "More than 440 colleges are at risk of closing or merging in the next decade, according to a forecast by the Huron Consulting Group, which advises schools on operations and mergers."

Then: "Using restricted donor funds to cover day-to-day expenses is tantamount to putting a going-out-of-business sign on campus, so it is little discussed outside college boardrooms."

Even further on Baldwin-Wallace and Averett are mentioned.

[Ron Boerger]

Unfortunately, the article is paywalled, but the conclusions quoted are correct; if you're spending restricted dollars on something other than the donor's directed intent, you're not only dishonoring the contract made with the donor but spending money that isn't yours to spend and have, in almost all cases, no hope of recovering.  And it tells a terrible story to anyone that hasn't yet made a restricted commitment or wants to make an additional one.

You're basically opening up schools to multiple lawsuits for breaking those contract and hoping to live off the goodwill of those who made the restricted donations in the first place. 

[y_jack_lok]

Unfortunately, the article is paywalled, but the conclusions quoted are correct; if you're spending restricted dollars on something other than the donor's directed intent, you're not only dishonoring the contract made with the donor but spending money that isn't yours to spend and have, in almost all cases, no hope of recovering.  And it tells a terrible story to anyone that hasn't yet made a restricted commitment or wants to make an additional one.

You're basically opening up schools to multiple lawsuits for breaking those contract and hoping to live off the goodwill of those who made the restricted donations in the first place. 

You can sign up for a free WSJ account with an email address. That's how I was able to access it.

Re honoring the intent of donors to endowments, I know someone who made an endowed gift to an institution in support of the athletic department. A couple of years ago, when the institution was in financial trouble, he was asked to release them from that restriction. He said "no". My comment to him was: "No institution, no athletic department." As it turns out, the institution used a lot of restricted endowment money anyway to help with its financial issues. Things seem to have turned around a bit for that school, thankfully, but I don't know what has become of my friend's endowment funds.

[WUPHF]

Even further on Baldwin-Wallace and Averett are mentioned.

Not to mention, the former Fontbonne president who many blame for their closure.

[IC798891]

Yup. This is why I'm always so annoyed when people just blindly bring up endowment sizes when talking about an institution's financial struggles.

There's an episode of Bluey where the Dad takes the kids to the pool, but he forgets the bag of important, but boring, stuff (sunscreen, towels, water shoes) and it basically ends the day -- until Mom shows up with the right stuff*

*And although this wasn't Dad's best moment, it's not one for the incompetent dad trope. The Dad's actually major parent goals.

I think about that episode a lot when philanthropy gets talked about. Donors are, of course, free to use their money how they see fit, and certainly, colleges are not always the smartest with their unrestricted money.

But ultimately, there's a lot of "boring" things that need to have money spent on them every year. Campuses are like small cities, and there's a lot of stuff people don't see and don't typically like to spend their money on. (*Coughs in deferred maintenance*)

As an example, it may not be a challenge to get some alum to donate money to buy say, the latest in cameras and lights for your film students, or new instruments for music students. But what about say, the salaries of the people who repair and maintain those musical instruments, or the resources needed to manage all that film equipment?

So while I don't condone taking money that has been restricted for other uses, this is the frustration colleges have when dealing with giving

[WUPHF]

I think about that episode a lot when philanthropy gets talked about. Donors are, of course, free to use their money how they see fit, and certainly, colleges are not always the smartest with their money.

Just a quick footnote to this point.

There are others here that have crazier stories than I do, but I know of one local institution that was gifted over $100K to run educational program related to United Nations Day.

I know of one college that brings in a lot of farmland and with one gift, they had to agree to keep and maintain a few early 20th century tractors.

As for colleges not always being smart with money, do not get me started...

[AndrewB]

Yup. This is why I'm always so annoyed when people just blindly bring up endowment sizes when talking about an institution's financial struggles.

There's an episode of Bluey where the Dad takes the kids to the pool, but he forgets the bag of important, but boring, stuff (sunscreen, towels, water shoes) and it basically ends the day -- until Mom shows up with the right stuff*

*And although this wasn't Dad's best moment, it's not one for the incompetent dad trope. The Dad's actually major parent goals.

I think about that episode a lot when philanthropy gets talked about. Donors are, of course, free to use their money how they see fit, and certainly, colleges are not always the smartest with their money.

But ultimately, there's a lot of "boring" things that need to have money spent on them every year. Campuses are like small cities, and there's a lot of stuff people don't see and don't typically like to spend their money on. (*Coughs in deferred maintenance*)

As an example, it may not be a challenge to get some alum to donate money to buy say, the latest in cameras and lights for your film students, or new instruments for music students. But what about say, the salaries of the people who repair and maintain those musical instruments, or the resources needed to manage all that film equipment?

So while I don't condone taking money that has been restricted for other uses, this is the frustration colleges have when dealing with giving

If a school can't afford to pay maintenance on equipment for the classes they offer, maybe just drop the classes. 
To ask somebody, who has just given money for a specific purpose, to pay for day to day general shortcomings is embarrassing.

[IC798891]

If a school can't afford to pay maintenance on equipment for the classes they offer, maybe just drop the classes. 
To ask somebody, who has just given money for a specific purpose, to pay for day to day general shortcomings is embarrassing.

It is unfortunate that it has to happen, yes. Ultimately, that falls on the shoulders of you philanthropy department. They have to convince donors that the money spent elsewhere will be put to good use.

But donors on the outside don't always have the best sense of what it actually takes to keep the lights on at a college. Overfunding specific certain areas of the campus, while others get neglected isn't a recipe for long-term sustainability. And it's how endowment numbers become misleading.

It's similar to something you often hear from admissions people. There are certain majors where you can  absorb an increased number of applicants, and others where you can't. So you can't just say "How could you miss your enrollment target? College-wide applications were up 10%! But those applicants may be concentrated in majors that have hard caps on the number of students they enroll.

It's like how new parents are overwhelmed with sleep deprivation and keeping the house clean, and when they they ask for help, 10 people come by, each drops off a casserole and tells them to just return the pyrex dish when they're done.

Colleges are absolutely inefficient with how they spend their unrestricted money. But restricted giving comes with its own pitfalls.

[WUPHF]

There are certain majors where you can  absorb an increased number of applicants, and others where you can't. So you can't just say "How could you miss your enrollment target? College-wide applications were up 10%! But those applicants may be concentrated in majors that have hard caps on the number of students they enroll.

Tip No. 1 for students applying to selective or highly selective institutions: always choose history and English as your intended major.  Explain why you wish to major in history in your essay if possible.

Tip No. 2 move to Wyoming or South Dakota for your senior year.