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Connecting institution readiness with student success to enhance fiscal resiliency and retention

April 27, 2022

This blog summarizes the key takeaways from our fiscal resiliency podcast, episode 12.

West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCU), like many colleges and universities across the country, was struggling with enrollment decline and the related decrease in average class sizes and downward trend in student to faculty ratios. In Baker Tilly’s recent Higher Ed Advisor fiscal resiliency podcast, WCU President, Christopher Fiorentino, and Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Laurie Bernotsky, highlighted how “intentionality” in academic program design and the support services the university offers students contributes to both enrollment management and student success.

Streamlining undergraduate programs

While many universities – including WCU – offer majors that attract students because the programs are nationally and internationally renowned, Bernotsky noted that most students matriculate as undeclared. Even if they declare a major as a first-year student, students often change majors. In many cases, this can add to the length of time to graduation, which in turn impacts cost of attendance for a student. She added that when undergraduates are looking at colleges, the concept of “major” loyalty doesn't matter as much as “brand” loyalty to the institution.

Universities need an array of majors that is reasonable and related to the size of the institution. Fiorentino noted that for some schools in the Pennsylvania system, 75% of declared majors are within 15 to 20 programs. If an institution offers 55 programs, then 25% of students are thinly spread through 35 to 40 programs. The trick becomes making sure that a university does not have too many small programs that are supported by larger programs, he advised. 

Fiorentino pointed out that universities receive their revenue at the beginning of the academic year when students pay tuition. If a student signs up for a class, then drops it and switches to another class, the money does not follow the student. The more programs a college or university offers, the more likely it must manage the cost of majors covered by a small number of students.

At the same time, university leaders realize that because of the rapid pace of change in society, higher education institutions are preparing students for careers that do not yet exist, according to Bernotsky. Gone are the days where schools could just add majors to attract students in new disciplines, she added. Taking a fixed population of students and spreading it thinly among more programs will drive down class size, “which means on average you are paying more for instruction because you've added new faculty and staff, but not enough students to make up for the added costs.”