Enrollment numbers

[VUGrad1314]

I really hope everything will be okay and I am thankful to hear this news. I'd really love to see another deep tournament run to help stoke interest in the school again. Hopefully we have one coming soon. Our roster really does seem to be getting better compared to our first few years in the Valley (JFL's transfer not withstanding. I really think we've found several excellent recruits that will be contributors who can help us reach this goal.) GO VALPO! I BELIEVE!

[usc4valpo]

My question regarding enrollment is if Valpo maintained their standard or eased off. Many private colleges, including Drake, have eased admission standard to keep enrollment.

[valpopal]

My question regarding enrollment is if Valpo maintained their standard or eased off. Many private colleges, including Drake, have eased admission standard to keep enrollment.

I cannot share specific numbers, but as one way to measure this and offer assurance, it would be safe to assume that the percent of admitted students to applications received remained the same as last year.

[bbtds]

My question regarding enrollment is if Valpo maintained their standard or eased off. Many private colleges, including Drake, have eased admission standard to keep enrollment.

I cannot share specific numbers, but as one way to measure this and offer assurance, it would be safe to assume that the percent of admitted students to applications received remained the same as last year.

I'm sure new Valpo students are feeling the total commitment to their full potential.

[vu72]

I certainly don't have any inside knowledge, just what as been made public and in particular, from the athletics website.  If this young man is any indication of the quality of Valpo students, then we are in great shape:

Mason Bonn, Men's Golf, from Sherwood, Oregon



Member of National Honor Society as a junior and senior... One of the Valedictorians for the Shorewood High School Class of 2020.  Only missed one question on the SAT, scoring a 1590 

[NotBryceDrew]

Here are my thoughts moving forward for next year on projected enrollment.

637 first-year students for fall 2020, down from 649 in 2019.

Most schools and other sources have deferments at between 10-15% for 2020 incoming classes. I will use the low end and say 10% deferred so 64 students. From the Scroggins comments a few weeks ago we know we were up 15% ahead of 2019 in early March so let's say, 97 students.

637 (2020's total) + 64 (deferred) + 97 (pre-COIVD increase number) = 798 Freshman

So 798 with an increase in selectivity.

Many of us were expecting this year, year two of Ray Brown at the helm of admissions to turn the tide, however, COVID happened and no one expected that. I am very certain that year three will have tremendous results for a few reasons. First, they will continue to build off what was done last year. Three years in allows for enough time to evaluate what has and hasn't worked in the new strategies that they have implemented since Brown's arrival double down on what has worked and stop what hasn't. I believe this is now the third year of the new enrollment management company (if past posters posts have been accurate) which usually doesn't pay big dividends until year 2-3.

Thoughts?

[valpo tundra]

Valpo is targeting 750 new students for next year.  They are nowhere close to that number yet so Ray Brown, VP for enrollment has been terminated.  With a new hire scheduled by Summer, let's hope the next person steps up.  President Padilla is doing what a new leader should do-taking charge.

[NotBryceDrew]

This is a little shocking on both fronts. However, it has been well documented that most schools admissions are all over the place this year.  Applications were up 15% like two weeks ago this time last year prior to covid. So really wonder what has changed.

I hope there was/ is someone in mind already if Brown was indeed terminated isn't something we should be having a search for.

[vu84v2]

Valpo is targeting 750 new students for next year.  They are nowhere close to that number yet so Ray Brown, VP for enrollment has been terminated.  With a new hire scheduled by Summer, let's hope the next person steps up.  President Padilla is doing what a new leader should do-taking charge.

Two comments:
1. Given that this is so early in President Padilla's tenure, I wonder if this was a mandate from the board of trustees.
2. Measuring enrollment for a forthcoming school year has a variety of milestones, including down payments and full payments. It would be interesting to see where they are falling short.

I am also not aware of Valpo committing that the Fall semester will be fully in-person. While actually being able to do so depends on factors external to the university, I would recommend making that public statement as soon as possible. Expecting incoming students to pay the premium to go to Valpo, with a perception that many classes will be remote, is likely to end up in very low enrollment of new students.

[valpotx]

I read recently that many top schools are experiencing a huge increase in applications, as kids are 'shooting their shot' at the Ivys, with the ACT/SAT requirements going away. 

[vu72]

I had written to President Padilla and he recently answered my email.  I think it appropriate to share a few of his thoughts.

First, he addressed the basketball situation as follows:

"We have to be bold and lean into these challenges.  Part of that is capitalizing on our strengths, which include our strong national brand in basketball.  But as you know, we haven't lived up recently to the legacy of Homer and Bryce Drew.  We're going to have to get much better in that area". 

Then in the enrollment area:

" Our admissions numbers were unacceptably low.  I'm a strong believer in holding people accountable.  We're in the final stages of selecting a permanent replacement for Ray. (Who really was a third party contractor.)  We're close to selecting a  new VP for Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications.  We have four finalists who come from similarly situated schools".

[David81]

Once you get outside of the charmed circle of elite universities, many institutions of long standing and solid repute (like VU) are struggling to maintain enrollments of traditional college-age individuals. This is not to excuse inadequate administrative performance in terms of enrollment management, but rather to acknowledge that we're likely to see some shakeout of the higher ed market. FWIW, I think VU is of sufficient distinction and quality to be among those left standing, but it won't be easy.

[VUFan2021]

I don't think Valpo has much of an admission standard with an 85% acceptance rate. The problem with Valpo's finances lies in that the school offers deep discounts to students with high GPAs and standardized test scores. As the school relies on tuition revenue, this practice is unsustainable in the long run. Valpo should think out of the box, and offer more D1 sports instead of less. Cutting athletic programs creates so much bad press for the school. Why not add D1 sports in an effort to bring in students? How is it possible that most Patriot League institutions with less students offer 25+ D1 varsity sports including scholarship football, while Valpo offers minimum athletics in comparison? Bring back men's soccer and tennis, add lacrosse and field hockey as well. You will attract better quality students for admissions, and raise the profile of the school at the same time. There are so many top academic institutions across the country that have followed this model. Valpo needs to stop looking at MVC schools for direction and embrace what institutions on the West Coast and East Coast have done in order to stay "financially stable" during these trying times. The Valpo athletic department needs to give up on tying all of its assets into men's basketball, and increase the number of student-athletes at the school. The school needs athletic department leadership from a higher academic tier in order to gain a better perspective as to how athletic programs in 2021 can lead to higher student enrollment and higher selectivity rates which influence national rankings. With all of this said, I appreciate everyone's efforts in keeping Valpo afloat during these trying times. Let's think outside of the box in order to keep Valpo safe for decades to come!

[valpo95]

... Valpo should think out of the box, and offer more D1 sports instead of less. Cutting athletic programs creates so much bad press for the school. Why not add D1 sports in an effort to bring in students? How is it possible that most Patriot League institutions with less students offer 25+ D1 varsity sports including scholarship football, while Valpo offers minimum athletics in comparison? Bring back men's soccer and tennis, add lacrosse and field hockey as well...

Valpo has some things in common academically with schools in the Patriot League - these are very good academic schools and several have excellent undergraduate engineering programs for example. The MVC and Patriot League also have some parallels in terms of the level of competition and national exposure for example.

Yet to answer the question as to why the Patriot League members sponsor so many more sports, the answer is in the endowments. Here are the endowments of the full member schools (excluding Army and Navy).

American      $708M
Boston U       $2.2B
Bucknell        $801M
Colgate          $908M
Holy Cross     $1B
Lafayette       $694M
Lehigh           $1.4B
Loyola Md      $206M

Valpo has an endowment of approximately $254M and sponsors 17 men's and women's sports. As near as I can tell, Loyola sponsors 18 sports.

I'm confident that if someone showed up with a check for say $10M conditional on Valpo bringing back one more sport, that would get a positive reception. However, as Valpo has a much more limited endowment so has to prioritize.

[crusadermoe]

Well I'm glad Padilla sees the marketing power of basketball.  It's too bad that wasn't seen 22 years ago.  We got so wound up about basketball in 1998 that we went out and built a library. If you read the Valpo magazine over the next five years afterward you would think that people across the country were abuzz first and foremost about the choir, Christ College and our graduate fellowships. 

It's quite possible that the hoops investment strategy might not have jolted us upward in admissions.  But watching Gonzaga thrive does inflict some 20/20 hindsight on us.  The real story as other 20 year vets of the board know is that the Horizon League wanted Valpo as early as 2000 but a father-son combo slowed that down into 2005 and that window of opportunity was long gone during the time when we kept flying to Utah and Louisiana for obscure conference games.  The Bryce team that went to the NIT in 2015 raised up a lot of student and local enthusiasm and deservedly so. But the national buzz of 1998 among the general public and student prospects had long faded.   

[valpotx]

It has been floated on the board many times, that Valpo should focus on being even MORE Lutheran.  I have always countered that the younger generations are not as religious as prior generations, myself included.  If we want to be a more religious institution, there is the potential that we push away more potential students, if you don't make more secular folks feel welcome.  For the first time since reporting/tracking began (84 years ago), this Gallup poll says that folks tied to a church, synagogue, or mosque, are no longer the majority in the US:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx

[vu72]

Looks like President Padilla is a no-nonsense guy who is moving quickly.  Just hired a new Enrollment VP.

https://www.valpo.edu/news/?type=post&site=239&id=12323

[crusader05]

I've heard from a few people on campus that he is very no-nonsense, clearly sees himself as hired to work to improve enrollment and financials, and that he has low tolerance for those you he deems not taking the issue seriously or just not providing the leadership he thinks the moment demands. Might be a rude awakening from some in the upper admin level but I feel like you need decisive leadership now if you really want to appreciate the impact of all the recent endowment money raised when it all finally starts to come in.

Valpo has always had a bit of it's own 'high on it's own supply" mentality where we feel the real world doesn't matter or that we will be able to do it "our" way and succeed. It's led to not just not updating our athletics but also not updating other areas of infrastructure in how they run things. They got the memo about the buildings needing to be better but it sounds like there were other areas that just weren't being built up to keep us running smoothly

[crusadermoe]

The new VP sounds impressive.  That's a wide span of responsibilities but they do all interrelate.

When you pool leadership areas you can get better talent offering higher pay. Might be the case here.  Let's hope.

[NotBryceDrew]

Can anyone shed more light on this hire?

On paper it is pretty perplexing. No ties to Midwest and education and work experience are west coast specifically isolated to LA. Can't find anything that makes him stand out professionally MSMLA U is not a great school with admissions and Retainment below us (maybe he's led solid improvement there? Can't find anything). Comes from Catholic not Lutheran school (I personally don't care) but think recruiting might be a little different in that regard. Little to no write ups/ news releases/ bios on him.

If he's our guy he's our guy. I hope he crushes it!

[vu72]

Can anyone shed more light on this hire?

On paper it is pretty perplexing. No ties to Midwest and education and work experience are west coast specifically isolated to LA. Can't find anything that makes him stand out professionally MSMLA U is not a great school with admissions and Retainment below us (maybe he's led solid improvement there? Can't find anything). Comes from Catholic not Lutheran school (I personally don't care) but think recruiting might be a little different in that regard. Little to no write ups/ news releases/ bios on him.

If he's our guy he's our guy. I hope he crushes it!

I was in communication with President Padilla on this subject and he told me that the previous guy just wasn't cutting it and that they had four very solid candidates from which to choose going forward.  Apparently this is the guy chosen from the four.  As for recruiting Lutherans, that is also a subject that was brought up to our President and he assured me that this would be part of the new effort going forward.

[valpo95]

I was in communication with President Padilla on this subject and he told me that the previous guy just wasn't cutting it and that they had four very solid candidates from which to choose going forward.  Apparently this is the guy chosen from the four.  As for recruiting Lutherans, that is also a subject that was brought up to our President and he assured me that this would be part of the new effort going forward.

vu72, I appreciate your active engagement in the process. 

At this point, I'm more on the "show me" side of things. The previous VP (Ray Brown) joined Valpo in August 2018. He also apparently retired from TCU before taking the Valpo job. Thus, none of us should be surprised that Mr. Brown might be looking to wrap up his career. Yet given the cycle of recruiting, Brown had one partial year of recruiting freshmen entering in 2019, and then the COVID-19 entering class of 2020. Given the COVID challenges, I thought the size of the freshman 2020 class (close to flat compared with 2019) was pretty solid.

Ray Brown, M.A., joined Valparaiso University as interim vice president for enrollment management on Aug. 6, 2018. As the chief enrollment officer, Vice President Brown leads the development and oversees the execution of the University's comprehensive enrollment management plan, under the leadership of Senior Vice President Susan Scroggins, CPA, '04 MBA, and the executive management team.

Vice President Brown has extensive experience in higher education, most recently serving for 16 years as the dean of admission at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth, Texas, where he led the team that yielded 1,900 first-year students and 400 transfer students. Under Vice President Brown's tenure at TCU, the university increased selectivity and increased applications significantly. At the end of Vice President Brown's tenure he became the first non-faculty member to become designated emeritus.

Previously, Vice President Brown served as the dean of undergraduate admissions at Marquette University in Milwaukee, and as the associate dean of students and director of admission and financial aid at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, among other universities.

Education
A.M. — University of Michigan
B.A. — Concordia University

The prior VP (Michael Joseph) joined Valpo in October 2011, and also had impressive credentials https://www.valpo.edu/news/2011/09/26/vice-president-for-enrollment-management-appointed/. Unfortunately, Mr. Joseph was spectacularly unsuccessful in his position, as the enrollment declined during his watch.


In any case, I'm hoping Mr. O'Rourke is successful.

Yet at this point, with two prior hires over the last decade with "outstanding record(s) of achievement", show me the results! Increase enrollment, and increase the quality!

[crusadermoe]

That's a good point. If people are successful elsewhere but not at Valpo, you also have to wonder how well they are equipped with a product and pricing that sells.

The product is a great education but it appears to happen in a very boring campus and town setting vs. urban settings like Butler and Loyola, and even Des Moines. We certainly watched an electric campus atmosphere in the ARC (not) over the last 3 years prior to COVID. What else generates excitement in Valpo? 

Financial aid is brutally competitive among private schools (well before COIVID) and each has to figure out their discount rates and how much discounting imperils the school.  Yes, they've raised a big sounding endowment number.  But how fast is that money flowing in and how much impact does it have when you can only spend it at 5%?  The school ran an 11% operating deficit in the last full year before COVID struck.

I know we've explored these topics many times and we all perceive it differently.  That whole financial trap just came to mind again after being reminded that admission hires with good resumes seem to come to Valpo to die. 

[FWalum]

It has been floated on the board many times, that Valpo should focus on being even MORE Lutheran.  I have always countered that the younger generations are not as religious as prior generations, myself included.  If we want to be a more religious institution, there is the potential that we push away more potential students, if you don't make more secular folks feel welcome.  For the first time since reporting/tracking began (84 years ago), this Gallup poll says that folks tied to a church, synagogue, or mosque, are no longer the majority in the US:

https://news.gallup.com/poll/341963/church-membership-falls-below-majority-first-time.aspx

I understand the logic of what you are saying, but in some ways I have trouble reconciling some of the other ideas you have espoused in regards to the way the mascot issue was handled and some of the HR advise you have equated to the player transfer explosion. It seems to me that you value conviction and commitment, correct me if I am wrong. What I find most concerning about my alma mater is the lack of conviction to the values of the original Lutheran University Association organization formed by the lay people of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod which purchased the university in 1925. I know that things change, but I would much rather that Valpo model itself after a Hillsdale, Wheaton or Peperdine rather than becoming a 3,200 student IU. I believe we should be striving to live up to the words from O. P. Kretzman's inaugural address:

It is this positive and aggressive approach to the problems of a changing world which enables us to face the future of this particular University with absolute confidence in its destiny. Only the school with a Christian orientation can today stand before the rising generation and say: We have something to offer you which you can find nowhere else. Others may try to make men scientific; we must do that-and make them wise. Others may give men knowledge; we must give them that-and understanding. Others may try to make men useful; we must do that-and we must make them noble. We are not asking you to come to an ivory tower to escape from the realities of life or to a market-place where the voices and minds of men are confused by the immediate and material things of life. We are able to give you the fellowship of men and women whose respect for Truth is not vitiated by doubts concerning its reality and permanence. We are able to offer you a school which recognizes the supreme dignity and worth of the individual human being. We are committed to the principle that the destiny of a Christian University lies in the quality of the men and women who are graduated from its halls rather than in quantitative production. Our future lies in the development of men and women, perhaps relatively few in number, whose quality will be so high that they will exert an influence on society which cannot be measured in terms of numbers.

I don't see a more secular Valpo being competitive in any way with the sea of big and small liberal secular universities. Do I want Valpo to remain Lutheran? Yes I do, or more accurately I want it to retain and maybe even double down on the values that helped make it unique among all of the many cookie cutter options in higher education. My wife is a college professor and we have been involved in education for many years in one way or another. We have supported racial diversity and equity in education of all sorts, but I would have been much happier had the university adopted the "Chicago Statement" rather than putting out the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement last week. I think that the MLK Day celebration is great, but I would love to see invitations to academics like Glenn Loury, John McWhorter or Coleman Hughes with more diverse thoughts on race and racial justice.

We got into trouble following trends, I think we need to buck the trend and actually stand for something.

[vu84v2]

After reading the discussion between valpotx and FWAlum (and prior similar discussions on this board), I ask the question, "why can't you be both?" In other words, for those who value a more intense Lutheran experience, have activities and organizations that meet that interest. But for those who don't, welcome them and their diverse opinions as well. This, in fact, is the nature of the "Chicago Statement." You mention Hillsdale, Wheaton and Pepperdine. Hillsdale and Wheaton clearly are focused around people who share their ideology and do not welcome people who have alternative views. Any direction towards that at Valpo and I am out (and my guess is that a meaningful number of other donors are out too). Pepperdine, I believe, is more oriented towards the model that is better for Valpo - in which there is an environment that appeals to those interested in Churches of Christ and an environment for those who prefer a more secular environment (of course, being on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean gives a university a distinct advantage regardless of personal beliefs).