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MARCH 4, 2025 | composed by STEVE ULRICH

What administrators, coaches and fans are reading. #whyD3
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🫡 Hello Tuesday. What a day. Where to begin.

Headlines
😵‍💫 Signs of Financial Stress at Your School
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🏀 Basketball Brackets Are Out
🤼‍♂️ Wrestling Qualifiers Are In

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TOP STORY
1. How Dire Is Higher Ed’s Budget Crunch?

by Robert Kelchen, Chronicle of Higher Education

According to the author, two-thirds of colleges show at least one sign of financial stress. Enrollment growth in recent years has been concentrated at a small number of flagship public and wealthy private universities, while regionally focused institutions — engines of social mobility — have generally struggled.

Tuition prices have increased more slowly than the rate of inflation for much of the last decade, and rising tuition-discount rates have reduced revenue for many colleges. On the other side of the ledger, operating costs have risen quickly since the pandemic and typically outpace gains in revenue. While there was some rare good news on enrollment across higher education last fall, this does not make up for a lost decade for many institutions.

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» The Analysis. “Together with my colleagues Dubravka Ritter and Doug Webber, I recently released a working paper examining factors associated with college closures. By using machine-learning tools and compiling dozens of data elements going back more than two decades, we were able to much more accurately predict closures than previous research or the federal government’s existing set of accountability tools. We also estimated the potential effects of a gradual 15-percent decline in enrollment: An additional four to five colleges would close each year, mainly in the for-profit sector.”

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