St.Andrews/Now Limestone

[gtyellowjacket]

Saint Augustine in Raleigh is going through similar issues. They are appealing a loss of accreditation. Their enrollment has shrunk from 1100 to 200 in two years, have laid off a ton of staff and they have significant debt. They also have the good fortune of being in Raleigh near downtown so their land has substantially increased in value. They may be able to pull out of the death spiral but they may have waited too long to start.

Saint Augustine’s University loses appeal to keep accreditation

Officials at the historically Black college are now contesting the decision to strip its accreditation via arbitration — a process it's been through before.

www.highereddive.com

 

[uncmba]

Going out of business.

What becomes of the infrastructure? The students? The athletes? The coaches? The faculty? The fans and alumni?

Home - St. Andrews University

Discover St. Andrews University, a premier institution for higher education. Learn about our programs, accreditation, and community of alumni.

www.sa.edu

Had a friend who went to Salem College 10 years ago. She became a teacher making $35,000 a year with 135,000 in student loan debt.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Had a friend who went to Salem College 10 years ago. She became a teacher making $35,000 a year with 135,000 in student loan debt.

Ouch. Although the story isn't great for people going to public school either. 4 years at UNCG with food and housing will cost you about $75,000 and starting teachers today make $42,000 a year.

 

[Mulberry Heel]

Had a friend who went to Salem College 10 years ago. She became a teacher making $35,000 a year with 135,000 in student loan debt.

That's probably one of the reasons why Salem has really struggled since around 2019 with declining enrollment and financial issues. They seem to be doing somewhat better, but I know some people connected to the school and whatever the college's public statements they're still not financially healthy or out of the woods by any means.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

You might get lucky. If there are less potential customers, colleges are going to have to compete harder for the customers that are available. You might get more aid.

Or they might be broke and you'll get less.

Unfortunately, as this thread suggests, there will be fewer schools for those fewer students. And the elite schools aren’t competing on price. They have no shortage of highly qualified applicants. 20 years ago, the average acceptance rate of the Ivies was about 18% (Cornell was ~30). Now they range from 3 to 6%. The list of schools with acceptance rates (RD) under 10% is shockingly long (includes NYU, Boston U, UCLA, Emory, Bowdoin, Pomona, Swarthmore, Colby, Northeastern, Tulane, UMiami).

 

[HeWhoWearsCarolinaBlue]

Saint Augustine in Raleigh is going through similar issues. They are appealing a loss of accreditation. Their enrollment has shrunk from 1100 to 200 in two years, have laid off a ton of staff and they have significant debt. They also have the good fortune of being in Raleigh near downtown so their land has substantially increased in value. They may be able to pull out of the death spiral but they may have waited too long to start.

Saint Augustine’s University loses appeal to keep accreditation

Officials at the historically Black college are now contesting the decision to strip its accreditation via arbitration — a process it's been through before.

www.highereddive.com

I’m shocked that St Augustine’s hasn’t closed yet.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

I’m shocked that St Augustine’s hasn’t closed yet.

I do think a lot of these private all female, and historically black universities are going to continue to close. There will continue to be a market and the best ones will stay open but I think students are voting with their admissions applications. Most want a more mainstream experience.

 

[rebeltarheel0408]

Unfortunately, as this thread suggests, there will be fewer schools for those fewer students. And the elite schools aren’t competing on price. They have no shortage of highly qualified applicants. 20 years ago, the average acceptance rate of the Ivies was about 18% (Cornell was ~30). Now they range from 3 to 6%. The list of schools with acceptance rates (RD) under 10% is shockingly long (includes NYU, Boston U, UCLA, Emory, Bowdoin, Pomona, Swarthmore, Colby, Northeastern, Tulane, UMiami).

How much of the acceptance rate numbers is a result of the fact that, as I understand it, kids can apply to as many schools as they want with the universal application? I think that's what it's called; I applied early acceptance to Carolina in 1999 and my kids are in elementary school, so I don't know much about the current application process.

Back in my day... it cost money to apply and very few kids would apply to an Ivy (or anywhere "good") without a realistic shot of getting in.

 

[05C40]

. . .. Back in my day... it cost money to apply and very few kids would apply to an Ivy (or anywhere "good") without a realistic shot of getting in.

Same here. When I was applying to college, I just assumed UNC was going to be way out of my price range. And I knew anywhere out of state would even further out of my price range. So, I figured that I should look at places like East Carolina, Wilmington, Pembroke. But just for [explicative deleted] and grins, I decided to find out how much UNC cost. I got a list of the tuition and fees per semester at every state-supported school in NC, now called the UNC System. They were all the same. Or if different, then just a few dollars different. I couldn't believe it. But it was true. So, I decided that if UNC costs exactly the same as all the other colleges, why not apply there. I did and I got accepted.

 

[donbosco]

Found.

 

[farce©]

Found.

Very interesting!

Your board was $250 and tuition/fees was $239 per semester, so the cost of UNC before books and food was $978 per year. The CPI inflation calculator tells me that amounted to $5,477.47 in March 2025 dollars.

I don't have copies of the invoice, but I started ECU in fall of 1972, and tuition/fees and board was $251 per quarter, or $753 per year. That same inflation calculator says that is $5,747.22 in today's dollars. My mother sent me $20/week for food (which is $152.65 today) and with the spending money I saved from my summer job I made out just fine. Frosty mugs of draft beers were always 25¢ at the Elbo Room and between cooking in the dorm room and cheap eats at Newby's Sub Shop, I did just fine.

 

[donbosco]

Hector's greek grill cheese and fries went for $1.44 in 1977. A can of Schlitz was 0.50. Three games of pinball was 0.25.

 

[BlooVooDoo]

How much of the acceptance rate numbers is a result of the fact that, as I understand it, kids can apply to as many schools as they want with the universal application? I think that's what it's called; I applied early acceptance to Carolina in 1999 and my kids are in elementary school, so I don't know much about the current application process.

Back in my day... it cost money to apply and very few kids would apply to an Ivy (or anywhere "good") without a realistic shot of getting in.

The Common App is absolutely a factor in lower acceptance rates. Students are applying to more colleges and, as a result, even the Ivies are getting a much better applicant pool than they used to. Top schools can pick and choose to some extent.