As noted by many others, Valpo is now facing the consequences of borrowing heavily in the early 2010s. I’m not sure what Valpo needs to build next vs what it would like to build next. But the financial picture is….complicated.
@kreitzerstl I think you should know that dorms and a new nursing school are priority 1 and 1a. Both of which make the price more "reasonable" to incoming students. Padilla has said multiple times that a gym would be the last thing on the list and the only way to move it up is if someone puts money forth for it. And by the way, that "flashy sign" was donor funded. No money from the school.
As for what they should build next. Stick to the current plan rennovate dorms into the 21st century as fen z cares about where their money is going and "bang for buck" then work on a new nursing school/clinic on the Broadway plot like planned
Padilla has said multiple times that a gym would be the last thing on the list
Is that why he asked Eli Lilly to fund the project? I seem to recall this board discussing that strategy.
Okay so 2 questions.
1. Where was this stated that Eli Lilly was going to fund a gym enhancement? The Lilly Endowment proposal was never fully released to my knowledge, and previous grants from Eli Lilly for their endowment scholarship program went to the nursing dept. The 2021 winning was a 4 way investment between Drake, UE, Valpo, and North Central College over CUSP. The talk I remember occurring was over the 2024 scholarship class and Valpo not being included, and claims that their argument was "plain bad" as other schools were receiving funding for projects such as athletic arenas. Not that a proposal to Eli Lilly would garner an arena investment. To my knowledge, Padilla, or the committee approaching Eli Lilly, did not make an argument for cash under the guise of funding an athletic center.
2. Even if Lilly were to (and they wont) donate towards an arena. That would fall under the "party coming foreword to pay for it" statement. Logistically, if VU ever does build a gym, it will likely be a partnership with the city over a civic center, or nothing at all. Both of which are a pipe dream in the current state of affairs.
I would like to see more released on the planned dorm renovations and the new nursing school. The school has bean deafly silent on these topics and they have been mentioned multiple times throughout the years as being top priority.
Its exactly what I have been outlining multiple times here. Students are way more interested in where their money is going. I expect a decrease in enrollment on top of the current decrease as a response.
For better or worse (I'd say the latter), this tuition increase is fairly typical right now for schools like VU.
In no way am I defending it. I saw what comparable and higher annual increases did to student debt levels in the years preceding the Great Recession. It's not a good thing.
But I think that VU's overall effectiveness or ineffectiveness at student recruitment will have more to do with enrollment numbers next fall than this increase.
