How are colleges and universities responding to the pandemic? Is 2020 truly proving to be an era of transformation? Paul Friga, University of North Carolina's Kenan-Flagler strategy professor and the co-founder and chief strategy officer of ABC Insights, joins Liz Clark to explore how institutions are taking action and why creativity and collaboration are necessary to tackle the many challenges the higher education sector is facing.

Emmanual Guillory, director of student and institutional aid policy for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), joins NACUBO Senior Director of Government Affairs Megan Schneider to discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on fall higher education enrollment.

Have we seen an enrollment decrease? “That’s a very good question… we are, unfortunately seeing a decline in enrollment,” says Guillory. But the overall landscape — which institutions and students are being impacted the most — is a story of nuance.  

Guillory goes on to offer his insights on fall semester trends based on a recent NAICU enrollment study and to forecast potential enrollment trends beyond fall 2020.

Links & Notes

• NAICU Survey of Private Nonprofit College Fall Enrollment

Justin Draeger, president and CEO of the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators joins NACUBO director of student financial services and educational programs Bryan Dickson to discuss the impact of Income Share Agreements on the higher education landscape.

While this space isn’t yet regulated, Justin explains that schools have some flexibility to experiment with these alternatives to traditional financial aid and notes that institutions that are leading the way with these new instruments are doing so with great care. 

As students look for different ways to finance their education, campus leaders, policymakers, and consumer protection groups will need to do their homework in this area now, as Justin and Bryan see ISAs becoming more commonplace. 

Brad Kendrex, executive vice president for administration and operations at Chandler-Gilbert Community College and interim vice president for administrative services at Mesa Community College joins NACUBO senior director, government affairs Megan Schneider to discuss the impact of COVID-19 legislative support on community colleges.

The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) of the CARES Act has offered unique challenges and implications for community colleges thanks to prioritization of full-time enrollment in determining funds received, and other factors. This isn’t a surprise, according to Kendrex, but the implications are significant.

Private, nonprofit institutions forgo a significant portion of potential revenue to help families offset the cost of college. The 2019 study, conducted before the coronavirus pandemic, indicates that this trend is becoming even more profound.

Today on the show, NACUBO Assistant Director for Research and Policy Analysis Kat Masterson joins NACUBO Vice President for Policy and Research Liz Clark to share the latest findings and new insights from the study, focusing on institutions’ use of tuition discounting to recruit and support students, and the challenges that come from increasing aid.

Thank you to EAB for their generous support of this study.

Maeesha Merchant, senior vice president and CFO at California Institute of the Arts and Tom Heck, chief investment officer and CFO at the Ball State University Foundation, join NACUBO Vice President Liz Clark to discuss the role of college and university endowments in the current crisis. 

“Endowments are not rainy-day funds,” says Merchant, “institutions have contractual obligations to our donors” that limit how funds can be used. Listen in to hear how these experts are seeking creative solutions to help their institutions persevere through unprecedented public health and financial crises.

Brian Flahaven, senior director for advocacy for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), joins NACUBO’s Liz Clark to discuss the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on charitable giving at colleges and universities. “There’s a lot of uncertainty,” he says. “Uncertainty is the enemy of charitable giving.” Listen in to hear how development and advancement officers are responding to address needs across the higher education landscape.

Susan Whealler Johnston, President and CEO of NACUBO, joins NACUBO vice presidents Jim Hundreiser and Liz Clark to discuss the challenges college and universities are contending with related to the COVID-19 pandemic. How do colleges and universities plan ahead when there are still so many uncertainties? 

Pat Lane serves as Vice President for Policy, Analysis, and Research at the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). This month, Pat joins Megan Schneider, senior director of government affairs at NACUBO, to educate us about his organization and share the latest results and trends from WICHE’s Knocking at the College Door project. That research is critical in assessing the supply for post-secondary education with projections of high school graduates 18 years into the future for every state in the country. The data offers a unique perspective with a broad scope sure to help leaders make informed decisions in challenging times. 

Links & Notes

• WICHE Knocking at the College Door — Projections of College Graduates through 2032

A renowned institution, Berklee College of Music, recently underwent a successful merger with the Boston Conservatory, itself a historic music training academy. Now, the Boston Conservatory at Berklee serves as a training ground for music, dance, and theatre. 

On this episode, Berklee’s Chief Financial Officer, Mac Hisey, and Anne Ogilby, partner at law firm Ropes and Gray, join NACUBO's Liz Clark to discuss the journey from independent institutions managing shared services to the new, merged school. Anne also shares observations from her extensive experience assisting institutions with mergers, discussing both opportunities and risks.