Valpo Strategic Plan

[wh]

Enrollment is clearly important, but is not the only bottom line:

Graduation Rate within 8 years of starting (national median for 4-yr schools: 58%)
Grand Canyon: 42%
Liberty: 36%
Valparaiso: 71%

Median Earnings 10 yrs after starting (national median for 4-yr schools: $50.4K)
Grand Canyon: $38.3K
Liberty: $45.1K
Valparaiso: $60.8K

Interestingly, the average annual costs after discounts (Grand Canyon: $21.2K; Liberty: $28.6; Valpo: $25.8K) and the median total debt for a student after graduating (Grand Canyon: $22.1K; Liberty: $24.5K ; Valpo: $26.9K) for these three schools are fairly similar.  Obviously, you have many more students who have debt and did not get a degree at Liberty and Grand Canyon.

Frankly (and as I have stated in prior posts), an area where Valpo clearly needs to improve is marketing. Valpo's outcomes are good and the average annual cost (after discounts) is modestly competitive.

Apples and oranges. Valpo has no on-line programs that cater to working adults taking a class or 2 at a time.

Graduation Rate at Liberty

Graduation Rate   Transfer-out Rate
62%   6%
At Liberty University, the graduation rate is 62 % within 150% normal time, the retention rate is 79 %, and the transfer-out rate is 6 %, as of August 31, 2021.

Liberty University Salaries
33 verified profiles
Last updated on Jul 15, 2023
Employees who graduate from Liberty University earn an average base salary of $53k, mostly ranging from $41k to $102k based on 33 profiles.

[vu84v2]

To a degree, I understand your point about apples and oranges - but Liberty's average annual costs - with a high percentage of online students - is $3K per year higher than Valpo. And what do they get from those online degrees? Jobs in poorly paying positions (if they graduate) with an equal amount of debt as people who go to more traditional four-year schools. The ROI (investment of time and money) is not good...which is not surprising because the ROI for online education is poor.

[vu72]

Liberty has unapologetically stayed true to its biblical world view

To avoid falling victim to mission creep, they hire faculty and staff that hold the same values and and embrace Liberty's biblical world view.

Well, they did have that Falwell guy! Maybe he should have read the requirements!

[vu84v2]

Unlike Christian-affiliated universities that have embraced ever changing secular values, culture, and world views, Liberty has unapologetically stayed true to its biblical world view. And, they are being rewarded for it.

To avoid falling victim to mission creep, they hire faculty and staff that hold the same values and and embrace Liberty's biblical world view. Their primary target market is Evangelical Christianity. Their messaging is crystal clear; no confusing mixture of seemingly random words and phrases (marketing speak) you find in "The About" section of most university websites.

Their President from 2007 to 2020, Jerry Falwell, Jr., clearly embodied these principles.

[wh]

Liberty has unapologetically stayed true to its biblical world view

To avoid falling victim to mission creep, they hire faculty and staff that hold the same values and and embrace Liberty's biblical world view.

Well, they did have that Falwell guy! Maybe he should have read the requirements!

I forgot about him. lol

[78crusader]

The point that comes across to me in this Liberty/Grand Canyon discussion is that there is still a market, and a pretty good size one at that, for conservative, faith-based students - a market that VU unwisely has not prioritized (at least from what I can see) in the last 10 years or so.

That has cost us in the short term, and will continue to cost us in the long run.

VU is now viewed as too liberal for most conservative kids, and too conservative for most liberal kids. Perhaps this would have happened anyway, but VU's "try to please everyone" approach sure didn't help.

Side note: the attendance at morning chapel is, to say the least, sad and pathetic - at least from what I can gather from some photos posted online. Do we even have a morning service anymore? And does anyone attend?

Paul

[wh]

Lutherans by continent:
Europe   33,733,309
Africa   24,135,469
Asia           11,376,400
N.America     3,672,858

Rather than Heckler's get rich quick scheme of jumping in bed with radical Muslim nations and Communist China, Valpo should have been tapping into Lutheran hotbeds all over the world.

Nations with significant Lutheran populations:
Germany
10,814,631
Ethiopia
10,404,128
Tanzania
7,916,253
Sweden
5,900,000
Indonesia
5,705,589
India
4,386,957
Denmark
4,339,511
Madagascar
4,000,000
Finland
3,800,000
Norway
3,746,308
United States
3,563,842
Nigeria   
2,321,000
Netherlands   
1,849,202
Papua New Guinea   
1,349,869
Namibia   
1,238,695

"Don't forget that you can only sell a thing that you have proficiency in."
17 Reasons That Businesses Fail

[valpo95]

Unfortunately, wh's analysis only includes Lutherans part of the Lutheran World Federation. The 3.5M Lutherans listed for the USA only includes the ELCA, and many of the "confessional" Lutheran bodies are not part of it.

In the USA, church bodies NOT part of the LWF would include the LCMS (about 1.8M members), WELS (340K), NALC (142K) and several other smaller denominations.

[vu84v2]

The point that comes across to me in this Liberty/Grand Canyon discussion is that there is still a market, and a pretty good size one at that, for conservative, faith-based students - a market that VU unwisely has not prioritized (at least from what I can see) in the last 10 years or so.

Let's take a little trip down memory lane, back to the early 80s when I was an undergraduate student and Valpo had not become the secular disgrace you seem to believe it is. But first, let's review Liberty's Student Honor Code.

I imagine more people went to services at the Chapel. But I can also say that about two-thirds of the student population would have been in violation of Liberty's Student Honor Code on any given Friday or Saturday night (and some Mondays, and some Wednesdays, and some Thursdays). Some of those violations were legal, some were illegal but shouldn't have been, and a few were illegal and should have been. Some of these were stupid and, in retrospect, some were dangerous - but many were safe, fun and a vital part of the experience. Beyond that there were protests against a member of the Reagan administration (Edwin Meese) speaking at graduation. There were gay students. There were liberal arts faculty who were excellent because they encouraged students to find their own philosophical and spiritual direction. My point: Valpo has probably been more secular over a much longer period of time than you imagine.

[vu84v2]

Enrollment is clearly important, but is not the only bottom line:

Graduation Rate within 8 years of starting (national median for 4-yr schools: 58%)
Grand Canyon: 42%
Liberty: 36%
Valparaiso: 71%

Median Earnings 10 yrs after starting (national median for 4-yr schools: $50.4K)
Grand Canyon: $38.3K
Liberty: $45.1K
Valparaiso: $60.8K

Interestingly, the average annual costs after discounts (Grand Canyon: $21.2K; Liberty: $28.6; Valpo: $25.8K) and the median total debt for a student after graduating (Grand Canyon: $22.1K; Liberty: $24.5K ; Valpo: $26.9K) for these three schools are fairly similar.  Obviously, you have many more students who have debt and did not get a degree at Liberty and Grand Canyon.

Frankly (and as I have stated in prior posts), an area where Valpo clearly needs to improve is marketing. Valpo's outcomes are good and the average annual cost (after discounts) is modestly competitive.

Apples and oranges. Valpo has no on-line programs that cater to working adults taking a class or 2 at a time.

Graduation Rate at Liberty

Graduation Rate   Transfer-out Rate
62%   6%
At Liberty University, the graduation rate is 62 % within 150% normal time, the retention rate is 79 %, and the transfer-out rate is 6 %, as of August 31, 2021.

Liberty University Salaries
33 verified profiles
Last updated on Jul 15, 2023
Employees who graduate from Liberty University earn an average base salary of $53k, mostly ranging from $41k to $102k based on 33 profiles.

Universities are required, by law, to report outcome data to the US Dept. of Education. The data that I showed was what was reported by Liberty, Grand Canyon and Valpo and is available in the US Dept. of Education's College Scorecard. Thus, Liberty reported that the median salary of its students ten years after starting college is $45.1K and reported that 36% of its students graduated within 8 years of starting.

[wh]

Enrollment is clearly important, but is not the only bottom line:

Graduation Rate within 8 years of starting (national median for 4-yr schools: 58%)
Grand Canyon: 42%
Liberty: 36%
Valparaiso: 71%

Median Earnings 10 yrs after starting (national median for 4-yr schools: $50.4K)
Grand Canyon: $38.3K
Liberty: $45.1K
Valparaiso: $60.8K

Interestingly, the average annual costs after discounts (Grand Canyon: $21.2K; Liberty: $28.6; Valpo: $25.8K) and the median total debt for a student after graduating (Grand Canyon: $22.1K; Liberty: $24.5K ; Valpo: $26.9K) for these three schools are fairly similar.  Obviously, you have many more students who have debt and did not get a degree at Liberty and Grand Canyon.

Frankly (and as I have stated in prior posts), an area where Valpo clearly needs to improve is marketing. Valpo's outcomes are good and the average annual cost (after discounts) is modestly competitive.

Apples and oranges. Valpo has no on-line programs that cater to working adults taking a class or 2 at a time.

Graduation Rate at Liberty

Graduation Rate   Transfer-out Rate
62%   6%
At Liberty University, the graduation rate is 62 % within 150% normal time, the retention rate is 79 %, and the transfer-out rate is 6 %, as of August 31, 2021.

Liberty University Salaries
33 verified profiles
Last updated on Jul 15, 2023
Employees who graduate from Liberty University earn an average base salary of $53k, mostly ranging from $41k to $102k based on 33 profiles.

Universities are required, by law, to report outcome data to the US Dept. of Education. The data that I showed was what was reported by Liberty, Grand Canyon and Valpo and is available in the US Dept. of Education's College Scorecard. Thus, Liberty reported that the median salary of its students ten years after starting college is $45.1K and reported that 36% of its students graduated within 8 years of starting.

I'm not sure what your point is. You seem to be defending something I'm not questioning - the relative value of a Valparaiso University education. Unfortunately, that is no longer sufficient to drive enough student enrollment to pay the bills. Despite accepting anyone and everyone that fills out an application, it still isn't enough. Obviously, there are dominant offsetting negative factors in play that are turning people off and killing student growth.

Echoing your point, Liberty costs more and yields less value, and yet they are tearing down old dining centers and dorms to make room for bigger ones with amazing creature comforts as we speak. They are turning down half of their applicants for lack of room.

I can only draw 2 conclusions from this dichotomy - more people are seeing higher education as a commodity and are looking instead for external factors like values alignment as a primary determinant. And, therein lies Valpo's paradox in trying to serve 2 masters.

[crusadermoe]

To build on WH's point....

If you sharpen your mission and your market niche, you can direct resources more directly to students who fit your niche mission. When that strategy lacks clarity, Valpo finds itself facing a bowlers' 7-10 split and risks missing both targets. 

[vu84v2]

To build on WH's point....

If you sharpen your mission and your market niche, you can direct resources more directly to students who fit your niche mission. When that strategy lacks clarity, Valpo finds itself facing a bowlers' 7-10 split and risks missing both targets.

Yes, but your targeted direction needs to match your mission. You don't develop a strategy and then develop the mission. Valpo's mission is not to be a narrow-minded faith-oriented university. It is to be a welcoming open-minded faith-oriented university (far more like Jesuit universities and not like universities like Liberty). Strategy needs to be consistent with that.

[78crusader]

I want to believe VU is still a faith-oriented university, but photos of weekday morning chapel, with perhaps half a dozen students in attendance, makes for a rebuttal argument difficult to ignore.

Paul

[wh]

I'm not suggesting that Valpo become Liberty University. Both universities are what they are. The difference is Liberty is what they are - and, what they were. Jerry Falwell, Sr. founded LU in 1971. If he returned from the grave today, he would see the same place doing the same thing the same way, only on a mega scale.

Conversely, what would the spiritual giant O.P. Kretzmann think about Valpo today? I think he would be shocked to see how Valpo has continually watered down its biblical world view in a desperate attempt to stay relevant in today's Godless society. Secularism wags the dog at Valpo, just as it wags the dog in today's Lutheran Church.

Following is an article about ELCA's disgraceful "radically liberal" belief system and practices. What would O.P. Kretzmann think? Infinitely more important, what does Jesus Christ think?

A Lutheran denomination becomes radically liberal

https://www.christianpost.com/voices/a-lutheran-denomination-becomes-radically-liberal.html

My bottom line is this relative to this thread title. If Valparaiso University is going to survive, and it's critically important to myriad stakeholder groups that it does, it needs to shed any and all attachment to religion. It needs to follow Butler's successful model. Find a workable competitive advantage and build a foundation around it. Stop wasting money on religiosity that no longer attracts anyone. Invest instead in new, cutting edge programs and majors. Do things that generate excitement.

So, there it is. What I've been trying NOT to say for weeks. Reinvent yourself and move forward, President Padilla. I will now go into hiding while my Lutheran friends (and Butler haters) tar and feather me (hopefully figuratively).

wh

[Just Sayin]

From article in previous post:

The ELCA pays for abortion for any reason in the denomination's healthcare plan which is funded by offering dollars.

The ELCA ordains practicing homosexuals and now also transgender pastors.

Popular ELCA pastor Nadia Bolz-Webber led the students to say after her "I renounce the lie that queerness is anything other than beauty." At the youth gathering an 11-year-old boy who thinks he is a girl was put on stage to promote transgenderism.

A Chicago newspaper asked ELCA head bishop Elizabeth Eaton if Hell exists. Her response: "It may, but I think it is empty."

Recently The Christian Post reported on the ELCA promoting a prayer to "Mother God."  If you go to herchurch.org, you will find an ELCA congregation in California which worships "Our Mother who is within us..."  The church's pastor led the women on a retreat in which she gave each a lump of clay to fashion their own Asheroth goddess statue so they could worship the "forbidden divine feminine." My alma mater, the ELCA's Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, held a commemoration service for the Transgender Day of Remembrance in which the transgender preacher led the students in the Lord's Prayer, saying "Our Mother in heaven."

Like I said, ELCA is lukewarm and has conformed itself to the pattern of this world. Of the world, not in the world.

[vu72]

but photos of weekday morning chapel, with perhaps half a dozen students in attendance, makes for a rebuttal argument difficult to ignore.

Paul

No doubt that Students today worship in a different way then we did (though I wasn't exactly the model attendee by any means!)  Sunday morning is not the selection of choice for many, but rather Sunday evening at "Candlelight"--at 9 pm. or "Celebrate", every Wednesday at 10 pm. And yes, there remains a daily service from 10:10 to 10:30 during weekdays.

Rather than just making seemingly uninformed comments, perhaps exploring the worship options given to students and faculty might be a better option.

Here is the Worship options:  https://www.valpo.edu/chapel/worship/worship-opportunities/

[wh]

I didn't say Valpo is radically liberal. In fact, I'm certain it's no more or less liberal than Butler, or most any other small, secular midwestern university. You're missing my point.

[valpo95]

I could be wrong, but I don't think wh was saying VU has become "radically liberal". (Edit - I missed wh's reply above!)

I think wh was pointing out that the ELCA has become increasingly "radically liberal" which was in the title of the article provided. It is also likely that the average ELCA pastor is far more liberal than the average member of the ELCA.

The demographic challenges also show a decline in college-age students in the Midwest and in all of the Lutheran churches. That said, as has been discussed before, Mark Heckler was the first ELCA president of VU and seemed to steer VU away from its traditional constituency, if not in practice at least in perception. It bears repeating that all of the prior presidents in VUs modern history were ordained LCMS pastors or had deep and longstanding ties to the LCMS. The result is that the LCMS students and families have voted with their feet and are going elsewhere. Just look at Concordia Lutheran High School Fort Wayne - they had 132 seniors this year, and as far as I could tell, NONE of them are going to VU.

78crusader has it right: VU is viewed too liberal for the conservative students and too conservative (or religious) for the liberal students.

[vu84v2]

From my somewhat limited knowledge, Butler's strategy is right for Butler. However, I believe the Jesuit-style direction (of which I am much more familiar) is the right direction for Valpo. Beyond it being more consistent with what Valpo's mission is and should be, it would take decades to transition Valpo to a position with no religious orientation (for the reasons articulated by Valpo22). Valpo's survival would be at risk with such long-term upheaval.

[VULB#62]

Just FYI.  I might add something about Butler maybe everyone knows already:  that Butler started off as a Christian college in 1854 as North-West Christian College and as late as 1924 it's religion department ran a theological seminary that in 1954 became independent as Christian Theological Seminary. Today, the former Christian emphasis has, IMO, evaporated.

[crusadermoe]

Yes, it does seem like Valpo has reached a fork in the road.

1)  Focus on its founding mission under Kretzmann and his predecessors.

2)  Just collapse any mention of Christianity in our mission and go the "Butler route"(several authors note that a great majority of private colleges no longer mention their founding church bodies and rarely speak much of their beliefs.

Note: Option #2 can easily digest secular ELCA messaging of 2023.  Google "Edina Minnesota pastor + Sparkle Creed  + prayer to non-binary God."  Its fair to ask the percent of VU faculty who are ELCA even though they may be offended by this.

[vu84v2]

Yes, it does seem like Valpo has reached a fork in the road.

1)  Focus on its founding mission under Kretzmann and his predecessors.

2)  Just collapse any mention of Christianity in our mission and go the "Butler route"(several authors note that a great majority of private colleges no longer mention their founding church bodies and rarely speak much of their beliefs.

Note: Option #2 can easily digest secular ELCA messaging of 2023.  Google "Edina Minnesota pastor + Sparkle Creed  + prayer to non-binary God."  Its fair to ask the percent of VU faculty who are ELCA even though they may be offended by this.

I reject that there are only two choices (I won't repeat my arguments why the Jesuit-style approach is best).

In regards to Option #1, consider universities that have a very focused religiously-oriented ideology. What do Liberty, BYU, Oral Roberts, etc. all have in common? One person or a very small group who solely determines the ideology of the university. Yeah, most have boards - but you are not allowed to be on the board unless your beliefs are consistent with the single person or small group. But ideologies in the real world operate on a continuum - not in one or a few distinct buckets. Take Lutheranism, for example. Posts have noted more liberal ideologies within ELCA...but are all ELCA churches that way? No, they vary greatly within a fairly wide range (you are taking one or a few examples that support your points on ELCA, rather than looking at the vastly larger sample). OK, then you have LCMS - more conservative than ELCA, but still Lutheran. And I have little doubt that they operate on a continuum, driven by region, congregation, etc. And don't you have other groups like Wisconsin synod, which would think the ideology of LCMS is too liberal? Indeed, you have continuums in most other faiths - Catholicism, Baptist, Judaism, etc. So, how does the person or very small group who runs the aforementioned universities attain homogeneity? By edict, strict rules, and substantial loss from not adhering to the beliefs that they decided are right for all people in the university. That cannot and will not happen at Valpo.

[vu72]

It is also likely that the average ELCA pastor is far more liberal than the average member of the ELCA.

Well, as a person raised in the Missouri Synod and having left in about 1980 for the ELCA, I might have some insight here.  I have had several ELCA pastors, some male and some female and none were selling what you might consider "Liberal doctrine".  Other than the fact that some were female (suspect some here might consider that "too liberal"), all taught biblically and I never had a discussion with any of them concerning homosexuals, gay marriage or transgender folks. 

The article referenced above by wh is written by Tom Brock, a controversial guy, to say the least.  He has admitted to being attracted to men, though also saying he never acted on it and that he is a virgin.  Much of his efforts are to develop a following for a tv/radio network. He believes in "conversion therapy" for those having "homosexual urges"

Clearly the ELCA is more "liberal" than Missouri--remember that Alan Harre was "brought up on charges" for praying with others who were not Missouri Synod members, after 911.  Other Valpo professors have been forced out of Missouri, like Matthew Becker. https://www.valpo.edu/theology/about/faculty/matthew-becker/

Rather than brand the ELCA as "radically liberal", I would suggest it is more open to the "Samaritans" of Jesus' day and that is what Christians are called to do rather than put up barriers to entry to protect the "pure" nature of one sect.  Just my view of things.

Have a chat with Pastor Katherine Museus over at the Chapel.  She doesn't have horns or make blood sacrifices of children!

[valpopal]

I won't repeat my arguments why the Jesuit-style approach is best.

I must have missed the reasoning that Jesuit-style approach to education is best. I apologize. I do not have any objection to Jesuit schools, since I am a product of a Jesuit educational institution. However, even when I was a student, Jesuits were viewed by fellow Catholics as the most liberal and activist order, often in defiance of traditional Catholic teachings. Pope Francis is the first Jesuit to hold that position, and he has displayed a fondness for activist left politics that reflects Jesuit philosophy and has alienated many Catholics.