BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — It has been three years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, but many cities, businesses, and even the education realm are still dealing with the effects.
From spring 2020 to spring 2022, enrollment dropped 5.8% at 4-year public institutions and dropped 4.7% at 4-year private nonprofit schools, with enrollment declining at many schools it also created a major financial burden and Western New York is not immune to this trend.
For years, getting a college degree was said to be the key to success, but that's changing.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, total fall enrollment in post-secondary schools reached 21 million in 2010, a gradual trend since 1980, but in 2021, enrollment dropped year after year to just over 18 million, the greatest enrollment decline.
"I think more recently, as we have seen challenges to demographics, some institutions and some regions in the country are facing declining interests or higher education because people can find employment in other ways and don't need a college degree. This is all pre-COVID," Trocaire College President, Dr. Bassam Deeb explained to Pheben Kassahun.
The pandemic only accelerated the decline, forcing some campuses to merge services.
In Western New York, experts are seeing the impact firsthand with the merger of Medaille University and Trocaire College.
"When we were looking at the landscape, we realized that there is a threat to the sector. The higher education sector, particularly the private sector. So, we needed to think about different ways whether it be through partnerships, merging with another institutions, acquiring another institution, creating strategic alliances --in our case at Trocaire-- because we are heavily invested in the healthcare space," Dr. Deeb said.
Dr. Deeb said the catalyst for this merger is so students have more degree options.
"We saw this as an opportunity to do two things. One is to combine forces to try to create deficiencies. Part of it is to provide students with a wider range of options. We have students who come to us wanting healthcare and realize that's not what they want. As a result of that, they leave because we don't have options for them to go to, and then we don't have options. Then, Medaille has students that come to them and at some point in time, maybe they want healthcare and that's not available to them, so then they leave. The fact that the academic profile of both institutions does not overlap, we believe becomes complimentary," he added.
With that in mind, Dr. Deeb said it makes sense for the two schools to come together giving them access to 65 programs.
When asked what colleges and universities can do to prevent declines that require them to close/merge/be acquired, Dr. Deeb had this to say:
"There is a school of thought that there are too many colleges and universities. In some ways, colleges and universities have lost their value proposition. They all look the same. They are all delivering the same thing and so, therefore, the clients (the students) are not seeing the benefits. The second school of thought, essentially says that while there could be scenarios where institutions close, or merge or consolidate or create strategic alliances, finding your value proposition, your niche, your region that you serve is critical," he said.
However, private universities like Daemen University seem to be bucking that trend.
Daemen University Strategic Initiatives senior vice president, Greg Nayor said, "I'm really pleased that people are looking at Daemen University because I've bee here for 9 years, now and I think in many ways, Daemen is still a hidden gem. A lot of people don't know a tremendous amount about it. Once they do, once they see the great work that we're doing, once they see the value added piece that we're providing for our students, they're really impressed."
According to Nayor, enrollment has remained at roughly 2,600 students both before and after the pandemic.
"One of the things we did during the pandemic is we built infrastructure. We didn't retract during that time. We realized that was a time to get our name out there. That was a time for us to grow. We added women's lacrosse. We added a key infrastructure in new programs that are coming online," Nayor said.
Along with growing its athletic presence, the university has been working on a dental college, while also adding a school of business and putting an emphasis on creating more opportunities for veterans.
While the future is looking bright for this northtowns campus, other area colleges realize they will need to evolve to survive.
"I think we have to do a better job. We, as in the higher education sector, in articulating the value proposition and why you should choose school X versus school Y," Dr. Deeb explained.
