This Week In College Viability (TWICV)

In this episode of This Week in College Viability, He highlights a growing wave of layoffs, academic cuts, hiring freezes, and financial distress across higher education, arguing that these developments confirm the industry is in long-term decline. Gary cites recent budget reductions and workforce cuts at institutions including Kent State, Colorado State, Portland State, the University of Oregon, and the University of Maryland.

He also chats about some colleges that publicly challenge poor financial ratings from the new Forbes college financial grades. Stocker focuses heavily on Westminster University and La Salle University, arguing that their public reassurances conflict with enrollment declines, shrinking revenues, and reduced endowment values shown in federal and audited financial data. Throughout the podcast, he stresses that graduation rates and accreditation alone are not reliable indicators of institutional stability, especially when colleges face persistent enrollment losses and financial strain.

Stocker introduces his related podcasts, Kitchen Table College Chat and Beyond the College Brochure, both aimed at challenging traditional college marketing narratives and encouraging greater transparency. In the final segment, he discusses a Forbes article by Ryan Craig about “healthcare donut degrees,” criticizing colleges that offer healthcare-related majors without guaranteed clinical placements required for graduation and licensure. Using his own medical laboratory science background as an example, Stocker argues that too many institutions create revenue-generating degree programs without providing the full educational pathway students need to complete them successfully. He closes by urging families to seek independent financial and academic data rather than relying solely on college marketing materials or sponsored college-ranking websites.

Show Notes:
+ College Viability Inspection Report
+ 2026 College Majors Completion App
+  Kitchen Table College Chat podcast
+  Beyond the College Brochure podcast

Story links:

‘It’s Just Been Agony’: Facing a Big Deficit, the New School Begins Layoffs

Kent State, Colorado State and other universities turn to budget cuts

Westminster University (UT) disputes Forbes' assessment after receiving failing financial grade

Pa. college’s (Albright) touted $10M surplus was less than half that: audit

La Salle University’s accreditation reaffirmed by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education

Despite Headwinds, College Enrollment Increases Nationwide Once Again

Universities Are Selling Healthcare Donut Degrees

In this special episode of This Week in College Viability, Gary Stocker interviews NILnomics  founder Greg Chick about the rapidly changing financial landscape of college athletics. Greg explains how difficult it is to obtain transparent financial data from college athletic departments, despite many schools being public institutions. He argues that one of the biggest misconceptions about college sports finances is that paying athletes is causing financial instability, when in reality enormous portions of athletic budgets already go toward coaches, administrators, and support staff. 

The conversation also explores the widening financial gap between major Power Four athletic programs and smaller colleges, the growing “pay-to-play” culture in youth and college sports, and the future of Olympic and non-revenue sports programs. Greg predicts that some sports cuts may occur but does not believe widespread elimination of Olympic sports is likely because athletics are deeply embedded in American culture and college enrollment strategies. The discussion also covers NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness), congressional efforts to reshape NCAA rules, collective bargaining for athletes, and how financially challenged colleges increasingly use athletics as an enrollment tool. Overall, the episode presents college athletics as a massive business ecosystem where financial transparency, institutional priorities, and athlete compensation are becoming impossible to ignore.

"We are #3. We are #3.  Feedspot has 'This Week in College Viability' as the #3 podcast for college students and families.

College Viability, LLC continues to develop more and better content and apps for students, families, and other college stakeholders.

This week we hit on college sports cutbacks and focus our attention on the need for private, independent sources to monitor and report on the financial health and viability of colleges.

Product links:
College Viability Inspection Report

PDS Private College Financial Compass

Story links:
+ Loyola University Maryland eliminates 66 jobs amid $20 million deficit

+ Santa Monica College’s College Board erupts over layoffs as financial crisis deepens

+ Forbes:  'Going to college' is worth it.

+ Students surprised to see Simpson sports teams slashed

+ 18 years ago, Coloradans started having fewer babies. Now it’s a higher education problem

+ New financial grades raise concerns about colleges' long-term stability

While I published a podcast episode today, the day is in honor of those who gave their last full measure of devotion in service to you, me and this country.

As the higher education industry struggles through enormous challenges, let us never forget those whose struggles end their life on this earth.

Show notes and links.

Baldwin Wallace Announces Another Round of Program and Budget Cuts

Simpson College cuts sports programs to address budget deficit

Boulder’s Naropa University (CO) announces significant faculty layoffs amid budget crisis

Cleveland State projects tuition revenue shortfall as Kent State adopts smaller budget

University of Oregon faces $65M budget gap as out of state enrollment drops

Budget Deficits Threaten More Flagship Universities

College Viability Inspection Report for Bethany College (WV)

Financial Report Card: The Weakest And Strongest Private Colleges In America

The Crisis in College Accreditation and Why It Matters

Get access to the College Viability Inspection Report

Get access to the 2026 College Majors Completion App

Welcome to podcast number 200!

If you follow the podcasting world, you are aware that almost all podcast efforts never get to a 10 episode.  I know why.  It ain’t easy to put together 20-30 minutes of interesting and entertaining content every week.  Luckily, I stumbled on Google Alerts when I started the show – and of course thanks to those many, many colleges who post content worthy of use on the show.

I am at the point now, where I reject more content for the show than I use.  I have developed my own internal judgement for what content is worthy for my listeners.  

So with that, this week we have: 

+ Colorado cuts state aid to private college students.  Very strange.

+ “pretty despicable’ is a student description of Hampshire College.

+ Some New Hampshire spin on enrollment

+ South Carolina doesn’t have any calculators that work.  They need an emergency $25M.

+ Wrap:  Moving the podcast toward more student and family content.  I will tell you why.

Show notes and links:

Newly released:  The College Viability Inspection Report.  Available here.

Portland State to cut two legacy programs, lay off 52 staffers in budget balancing effort

Declining enrollment is driving a $12 million budget deficit at the University of Vermont

OCU to stay open for now, employees still waiting to be paid  (Oakland City University)

Colorado lawmakers pass bill to cut state financial aid for students at private universities

‘An urgent operational reality’: Southern Oregon University faces looming cash shortfall

‘Pretty despicable’: Hampshire College closure leaves students and parents scrambling to figure out next steps

Bucking national projections, some N.H. colleges are reporting strong fall 2026 enrollment figures

SC higher ed agency needs $25M more to pay for scholarships already awarded

This is the 199th podcast episode of This Week in College Viability.

Here are the top stories and commentary for this week.

+ Are higher education podcasters moving the needle.
+ Playing taps at Dallas Baptist University
+ Accreditors form leadership roundtable to figure things out

+ Cutting majors, majors, and more majors. Which ones survive?

+ The Hampshire ‘train wreck’ that didn’t have to happen

+ Stocker quote: “Hope is a subset of delusion.”

Show notes and links:

Dallas Baptist University plays Taps at 7:00 p.m. for each home game.

UTA (Arlington) to cut, merge some academic programs to 'maintain fiscal responsibility'

Bowie State University (MD) to Eliminate 79 Positions Amid $18 Million Budget Shortfall

Ryan Hofer's  Substack Debt by Natural Causes   Cost v. Income report

Statement from the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA)

Council for Higher Education Accreditation announced they are forming an "Accreditor Leadership Roundtable."

‘A train wreck’: Hampshire faculty, staff left with no jobs, no severance as college prepares for closure

2026 College Majors Completion app for Academic Leaders  ($199)

This week’s show starts somewhere you wouldn’t expect a college viability conversation to begin… a softball field.

A routine game. A swarm of honeybees. And a moment that turned into one of those unforgettable college experiences that gets shared, liked, and remembered.

Here’s the clip from Lindenwood University softball—and at first glance, it’s everything families think college is supposed to be.
(https://x.com/lindenwoodsb/status/2050360836225482921?s=58&t=RRp3EfLfsCOV4T1DFy_2zw)

Fun. Memorable. A little unpredictable.

But as we move from that moment into the rest of this week’s stories, the tone shifts.

Because while everyone can see the honeybees on the field,  almost no one sees the financial pressures behind the scenes.

This week, we’re digging into:

• Saint Augustine’s University declaring bankruptcy—but insisting it won’t close 
• Hampshire College looking to sell land to cover a $25 million debt 
•  A looming 32% drop in high school graduates in Illinois—while lawmakers still push for more funding 
•  A “shot-in-the-dark” strategy unfolding at Naropa University
•  And a blunt critique from inside Hampshire: Cowardice and the Closing of Hampshire College

Show Notes and links:

UNT approves buyouts for professors, faculty as it tackles budget shortfalls

Saint Augustine’s Declares Bankruptcy but Won’t Close

Hampshire College to sell campus, land to pay $25 million debt

Illinois’ number of high school grads to plunge 32%. Lawmakers still want more college money.

Missouri S&T applications drop due to AI, international shifts

Confusing financial aid offers can leave families deeper in debt. Student groups say a new fix doesn’t go far enough

Deloitte just dropped its 2026 Higher Education Trends report

Boulder’s Naropa University to reduce tuition to attract enrollment growth

Cowardice and the Closing of Hampshire College

Wanna Bee Best Friends (X video)

This week’s news and commentary include:

+ We have a 2nd college closure announcement in Mass.

+ More cuts for majors and programs.  The list gets longer each week.  There are few better signs of an industry in contraction than this.

+ Students at a closed college (Martin University) sue the leadership.

+ Sports programs at the big-brand name colleges continue to be sliced away.

+ And much more.

This is the podcast that talks about the financial health and viability of public and private colleges with data, details and perspectives offered nowhere else.

Show notes:

Get the College Viability Transparency tool.

Get the 2026 College Majors Completion App for students and families.

Anna Maria College (MASS) announces abrupt closure, citing financial and enrollment woes

Accepted and enrolled students say they were blindsided by Anna Maria College closing in Paxton, Massachusetts

Iowa regents approve 10 program cuts at 2 universities

State universities (Iowa) gain initial approval to eliminate low-enrollment programs

Michigan State, University of Michigan face over 60% cut under state funding bill

Students, Staff, Alumni Sue Martin (University) Over Closure

Temple has lost average of $200 million annually as enrollment slides, and retention rates are a major issue, internal report says

Arkansas to drop men's and women's tennis for financial reasons

Students ‘devastated' as Hampshire College becomes latest small school to close

Flag Football Teams Are a New Pitch for Small Colleges to Lure Students

Drexel’s new president must tackle a deficit and declining enrollment. He sees it as a ‘moment of reinvention.’

The college crisis that Ohio leaders and governor candidates are too scared of to solve

The final podcast show originating from St. Louis, MO.   Life is taking us to Colorado.  The podcasts will continue from there on April 27th.

This week:

+ Half off at Hopkins: Carey Business School offers steep discounts to Maryland grads

+ Maine puts the screws to private colleges with a free and permanent college scholarship program.

+ Small private colleges are dying in a winner-take-all university marketplace.  In football, I would get a piling on penalty . . . but I am going to talk about it anyway.

+ TDR continues to increase – to the benefit of students.  Not so much to colleges in need of more revenue. 

Show notes:

2026 College Majors Completion app for Academic Leaders

2026 College Majors Completion app for students and families.

Earlham ends some majors to cut costs

BGSU to suspend 6 degree programs, 'reconfigure' 20 more in 2027 ( Partial list of programs below.) *

Half off at Hopkins: Carey Business School offers steep discounts to Maryland grads

(Maine) Governor Mills Signs Supplemental Budget at EMCC, Making Free College Scholarship Permanent

Matt Hisrich post on college net price decreases

The small private colleges dying in a winner-take-all university marketplace

Dan Silverburg post on tuition discount rates.

*BGSU says six programs will be suspended entirely without alternative options:

• Bachelor of Arts in Geography
• Bachelor of Musical Arts and one in Musical Composition
• Bachelor of Science in Physics

The following programs will be reconfigured and offered through alternative or related academic pathways, according to the university:

• Bachelor of Arts in Communication – Theatre
• Bachelor of Arts in Economics
• Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies
• Bachelor of Science in Gerontology with a specialization in long term care administration
• Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Sciences
• Bachelor of Science in Public Health
• Bachelor of Science in Statistics

There are four additional programs BGSU is seeking permission from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to consolidate into alternative offerings:

• Bachelor of Arts in American Culture Studies
• Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies
• Bachelor of Arts in Popular Culture
• Bachelor of Arts in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies

This week's podcast show includes news and commentary on:

+ Academic Purges Continue As More Colleges Close Their Degree Programs

+ Indiana lifts the lid on college program costs

+ Illinois wants to be like Missouri;  Bill introduced in Illinois House to study higher education funding

+ A CC is adding football.

+ Wrap this week with a more detailed look a how we should inspect colleges similar to how we inspect houses before we purchase them.

Show notes and links

2026 College Majors Completion app for students & families

2026 College Majors Completion app for academic leaders

Keene State College will undergo reorganization to mitigate budget deficit and declining enrollment

Unprofitable majors could be on chopping block at SC’s public colleges. Here’s why

Indiana lifts the lid on college program costs — but the numbers aren’t easy to compare

Academic Purges Continue As More Colleges Close Their Degree Programs

Metro East community college bets on football to grow enrollment and campus pride

Bill introduced in Illinois House to study higher education funding

College Viability Transparency Tool