President Heckler's Welcome Speech to New Students criticized

[vu72]

I think a lot of concern about the Law School stems from the size of the 2017 1L class.

https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/44565-valparaiso-law-incoming-class-significantly-smaller-but-posts-higher-lsats-and-gpas

Interesting.  I can see the pause for alarm by reading this article.  However, I'm still not sold that this indicates that closure is imminent. Are all applications (LL.M., 1L incoming and 2L transfer) down 73%?  While 1L enrollment is down, the reduction in class size could be by design—that is, the thought being that it might be impossible for Valpo to increase its incoming 1L LSAT and GPA averages to more "respectable" levels unless it becomes much more selective.  This selectivity, in turn, may improve first timer bar passage rates, which may, in turn, affect reputation, which may, in turn, increase rankings, which may, in turn, increase the potential for job prospects in an overly saturated market, which may, in turn, increase enrollment numbers in the future.  It's far too early to tell what might happen to the law school from one incoming class, IMO.

Besides, IMO, Valpo's 1L transfer rate is probably more important in this analysis rather than its 1L acceptance rate.  If you are selective as a result of being rankings reliant, and your best and brightest in a selective class leave anyway, it does you no good to be selective in the first place.

I visited with one of the deans of one of Valpo's colleges who told me about the law school problems.  This year's first year class (29) is less than half of what is needed to sustain the school (75) The faculty has been cut to its minimum size.  The problem is exacerbated by the requirement for Valpo to disclose to all applicants that the school has been sencured.  Not great for recruitment.  One more year at this enrollment level and things could colapse very quickly.

[vu72]

The college comparison thing is fun.  Not only did we beat Butler but also all other members of The Valley except Drake (lost by 8 points) and Bradley.  The biggest win was against Indiana State.

[crusadermoe]

Hi Joe.  Just Moe here saying hi again. Been a long time.   

I agree that predicting closure of the law school does seem a bit alarmist and unhelpful.  But the facts are pretty daunting.  Ironically, the Law School was a prize asset for Valpo with surging enrollment in the early 2000s.  They even brought G.H.W. Bush to Chicago to speak at their 125th at the Field Museum.

Let's hope that potential shoe doesn't drop in the middle of our best efforts to correct the UG enrollment losses in this year  and next.

[usc4valpo]

The decreasing undergraduate enrollment concerns me and I wonder why this is happening. Could it be the $50K tuition? Are other schools at Valpo's level experiencing the same problems? Maybe Heckler blames it on Trump.

[crusader05]

There are 3 places of enrollment so I think it's important to identify what we are concerned about.

Undergrad enrollment is remaining relatively steady although they want to see it increase
Graduate enrollment took a big drop over the last two years. Partially due to international students and partially due to an improved economy and Valpo still having a new player on the Graduate school stage in a major way  so they don't have the admissions networks etc set up to deal with some rougher years.
The third is the law school which is down but this has been an issue related to the bubble bursting regarding law schools and the lack of jobs for lawyers and Valpo, once law schools stopped being regional couldn't compete with the schools located at both Notre Dame and in the Chicago Market. The law school is working to turn things around and may be able to do so but it could take time and it's unsure if there is really a market for law schools in the way there used to be.
the Graduate school definitely needs to reassess their recruitment tools.
As far as undergrad the biggest issue that Valpo will be facing is that our surrounding area of the midwest where we get a majority of our undergraduates are seeing decreases in high school graduates and population. They will need to figure out how to compete with a shrinking pool and expand more into other states. Also more students are choosing to commute which are harder students to retain in general at a residential campus. The Northeast is seeing a similar issue.

The Midwest is probably over saturated in College Campuses as well. Combine this with the University looking to recruit a higher level of student and there are lots of challenges but overall the undergraduate seems to be doing well. Even if some of our data is a bit lower than our peers it's not significantly lower.

It's easy to ascribe things like enrollment to our own personal concerns but generally speaking this stuff is much bigger than what we think of as mattering and much more based on larger trends that can be out of our control

[covufan]

Didn't Gonzaga have an enrollment/budget problem?  I wonder how their problem went away?

The Law School enrollment drop from 208 in 2013 to 29 in 2017 is concerning.  While the indianalawyer.com article focused on the incoming class of 2017 for Indiana Law Schools, I wonder how we compare with law schools in the Chicago/Milwaukee/IL area.  I'm sure many previous Valpo Law Grads went straight to the IL bar exam. 

[wh]

Valpo ranked #178 of 208 Law Schools nationally.

http://law-schools.startclass.com

As the father of a Valpo Law School graduate, I'm disappointed in the ranking. That said, I'm anything but disappointed in the school. It is a real blessing to have a Law School in our local community, where my son could attend while providing for a family. He now has a career that he loves and for which he makes an attractive 6-figure income. He is also heavily networked in the business and law community in NWI, of which there are many fellow VU Law School grads and great people. Valparaiso University Law School provides a great service and helps to enhance our quality of life in NWI in so many ways. It will be a very sad day if they ever have to close the doors.

[crusaderjoe]

Hi Joe.  Just Moe here saying hi again. Been a long time.   

Hey! Right back at you.  All we need around these parts is a "Larry", "Shemp" and a "Curly" to saunter in here and we're all set! 

If VU law is ultimately hurting for students, what it should do IMO is allow entry for any Valpo undergraduate who applies so long as that student satisfies mandatory minimums either by GPA or by LSAT, but not necessarily by both.  So for example, lets say an entering 1L class has an average LSAT average of 151 and an average GPA of 3.25.  A VU undergrad applies to VU law with an LSAT of 147 and a GPA of 3.25.  Instead of an outright rejection, VU should admit that student conditionally or probationary because the GPA has satisfied a minimum, and then require stringent minimums to remain in the program.  Maybe the law school does this already?  I have no idea.

I did not attend VU law but I am a lawyer.  We are going back some years here, but in the end, I ended up graduating from a school that is ranked higher than VU (based on wh's link), but had I known that I would have been accepted into VU law as an undergrad, I may have just stayed there for another three years regardless of any "ranking."

[crusader05]

I haven't seen anything like that with the law school but I know they are looking into streamlining graduate programs for our undergraduate students. So they can start taking courses their senior year and then only have one year left after graduation. It's a nice perk for our students in general. I do think a few more Ph.D Programs could help and increased on-line courses to lure in people from the community even more. I also am interested to see how our new PA program works in the long run as that is a 5 year combined program and, much as our Nursing Programs direct admit combined with high regard is a big draw for students, that could be as well.

I think overall Valpo's undergrad is on the right track and that the graduate program can right itself but was earlier riding high on a peak in graduate enrollment and increased international enrollment. Now they have to reorganize but hopefully can find strategies that work well.

[vu84v2]

I think that crusaderjoe's recommendation of some level of preferred treatment for undergraduate students to get into graduate programs (law or otherwise) is a good idea (and I also have no idea of whether that is done). I think that the idea suggested by crusader05 that credits and coursework from your senior year can be applied to graduate programs at Valpo also creates a potential advantage that other schools may not be able to meet. This, however, needs to be carefully structured versus accreditation standards for that college/department, but I am sure the appropriate people at Valpo would do so.

Direct entry health sciences programs, while fairly common, give you an advantage towards getting the better students. It seems like a majority of universities have direct entry for the better students, so this might be maintaining parity versus an advantage. Adding PA is a great move.

PhD programs can be costly and difficult to do well. PhD programs, by definition, require the students to learn the research in their area and learn how to do research. You need faculty that are active in research, which is more of a challenge at a university like Valpo that emphasizes teaching (faculty do research at Valpo, but generally not anywhere close to the level of research at a major state school). Additionally, PhD classes are very very small (often less than 5 students), because students are learning a huge amount of research in a very narrow area. Because the classes are small, you need more faculty to cover either the PhD classes or the classes that faculty teaching PhD students do not have bandwidth to teach. Lastly, most PhD students are paid to be PhD students...the university covers tuition and provides a stipend for living expenses ($15K to $35K per year depending on the field and location). Yes, they do teach some (1-2 classes per year, typically), but overall PhD programs are not revenue and margin producers.

[crusadermoe]

I'm impressed with your knowledge of higher education revenues.  The  PhD "loss leader" reality makes a lot of sense. 

I think we all kind of know that the dream financial scenario for a university is to keep costs fixed and max out revenue by attracting kids who are in low-expense fields like languages and sociology "arts".  And ideally you bring in the right mix of majors that squares with expenses already baked into fixed faculty costs.   

Whether or not those students benefit in their lives from those majors is another question.  But that would be the best financial outcome on the university side. 

[Vale O. Paradise]

I don't think you can organize an enrollment strategy around the idea of a tuition-driven bottom line AND expect to attract high-performing students. High-performing students expect to pay a reduced price in return for their attendance. What's more, a tuition-driven bottom line forces decision makers to think shortsighted. That's why the new endowment campaign is so important: If you are less reliant on tuition margins/returns, you can afford to lessen the sticker price for everyone and also attract more star students. If you send out high-powered graduates and a general population of happy customers, they are much more likely to become donors down the line. An army of 50,000 happy graduates can do much more financial (helpful) damage than 4,000 undergrads, especially if a few dozen of those graduates are able to contribute checks with two commas. I think Valpo's right on target by focusing on a robust undergraduate offerings while offering a few graduate degrees that are easy offerings that use resources we already have. The law school helps Valpo in a narrower sense (seems that a lot of students come from the region and a lot of graduates stay), and I don't think it's going to be a revenue enhancer anytime soon (see first sentence). The national trend for law school supersaturation seems to be a longer-term headwind than the undergrad's equivalent problem. I think the law school's place is a small, regionally focused school that offers flexible classes for second-career attorneys or for new undergrads with a desire to pursue service-oriented legal work. Undergrad can cast a much broader net.


endnotes:
Last year, valpo's revenue from tuition was $76 million. Endowment was $10 million. That endowment amount should at least double if the current campaign is successful.

good valpo revenue info here: https://pp-990-audits.s3.amazonaws.com/4549220161.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAI7C6X5GT42DHYZIA%2F20171005%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20171005T215822Z&X-Amz-Expires=1800&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=52207b162b083550f8d2d8a9af0dd1ee5cf10c0ed643bf0f140b2071ca71b1fb