FB: Southern Athletic Association

[Ralph Turner]

Just read Birmingham southern cut their tuition in half, so wow. That probably will help them grow enrollment but they will need a full capacity to pay the bills

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/09/birmingham-southern_college_to.html
http://www.bsc.edu/lowertuition/index.html

Not sure how they're going to do it ... growing 300 students (from 1300 to 1600) will offset some of it but only if they don't have corresponding increases in operating costs (so no hiring more faculty, etc.).    Bloomberg puts their endowment at $190M, decent for a school of this size but not large enough to substantially draw upon to offset the difference.

The LIST price is being cut 50%.  Only about 10% of students pay list price.  I'll be interested to see how much the ACTUAL student outlay goes down.

My thoughts, exactly.  I wonder how the decrease in "nominal" tuition compares with the going rate for Auburn and that other school off I-59 in Tuscaloosa. ( )

[Mr. Ypsi]

Just read Birmingham southern cut their tuition in half, so wow. That probably will help them grow enrollment but they will need a full capacity to pay the bills

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/09/birmingham-southern_college_to.html
http://www.bsc.edu/lowertuition/index.html

Not sure how they're going to do it ... growing 300 students (from 1300 to 1600) will offset some of it but only if they don't have corresponding increases in operating costs (so no hiring more faculty, etc.).    Bloomberg puts their endowment at $190M, decent for a school of this size but not large enough to substantially draw upon to offset the difference.

The LIST price is being cut 50%.  Only about 10% of students pay list price.  I'll be interested to see how much the ACTUAL student outlay goes down.

My thoughts, exactly.  I wonder how the decrease in "nominal" tuition compares with the going rate for Auburn and that other school off I-59 in Tuscaloosa. ( )

It still may be a great marketing move.  Many, many people (ESPECIALLY potential students whose parents didn't attend college) don't understand that difference, and the 'sticker shock' may scare them off.

Many posters on this site don't seem to understand the distinction either!  The frequent whining about state schools' tuition advantages over private schools usually totally ignore that after financial aid the difference is often quite modest, and occasionally even favors the private school.

[jknezek]

Just read Birmingham southern cut their tuition in half, so wow. That probably will help them grow enrollment but they will need a full capacity to pay the bills

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2017/09/birmingham-southern_college_to.html
http://www.bsc.edu/lowertuition/index.html

Not sure how they're going to do it ... growing 300 students (from 1300 to 1600) will offset some of it but only if they don't have corresponding increases in operating costs (so no hiring more faculty, etc.).    Bloomberg puts their endowment at $190M, decent for a school of this size but not large enough to substantially draw upon to offset the difference.

The LIST price is being cut 50%.  Only about 10% of students pay list price.  I'll be interested to see how much the ACTUAL student outlay goes down.

My thoughts, exactly.  I wonder how the decrease in "nominal" tuition compares with the going rate for Auburn and that other school off I-59 in Tuscaloosa. ( )

It still may be a great marketing move.  Many, many people (ESPECIALLY potential students whose parents didn't attend college) don't understand that difference, and the 'sticker shock' may scare them off.

Many posters on this site don't seem to understand the distinction either!  The frequent whining about state schools' tuition advantages over private schools usually totally ignore that after financial aid the difference is often quite modest, and occasionally even favors the private school.

It is actually cheaper, on average, to go to BSC than the University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa) these days. Part of that is the influx of out of state students Alabama has had in the last decade, so they are getting much higher tuition by not fulfilling their true mandate. Not uncommon at state schools these days, but the success of the football team has been a big driver at Alabama lately. The average annual cost is $20,787, but that of course is only the average for all students, not in state vs out of state. University of Alabama at Huntsville is a few thousand dollars cheaper, but on average you will have a starting job that pays almost $4000 more. Of course, you don't get to pay for the privilege of watching the Crimson Tide play 8 games a year at home. UAB, University of South Alabama and University of North Alabama are all significantly cheaper than Tuscaloosa, Huntsville or BSC. But average salary is also significantly less. Auburn is pretty much in line with Huntsville and BSC, and cheaper than Tuscaloosa.

Stats courtesy of https://collegecost.ed.gov/

[Scots13]

Drew University announced a 20% reduction recently. Didn't Sewanee reduce tuition by 10% a couple years ago?

Reducing tuition is something that a) needs to happen, and b) should happen. Should you cut it in half in one fell swoop? Probably not. 10, 15, or 20 percent shows the institution is trying to make college more affordable. I can go on and on about my beef with high interest rates on federal loans, but I'll save it. (I think I've posted about it before.)

[jknezek]

Drew University announced a 20% reduction recently. Didn't Sewanee reduce tuition by 10% a couple years ago?

Reducing tuition is something that a) needs to happen, and b) should happen. Should you cut it in half in one fell swoop? Probably not. 10, 15, or 20 percent shows the institution is trying to make college more affordable. I can go on and on about my beef with high interest rates on federal loans, but I'll save it. (I think I've posted about it before.)

That's the thing, they aren't cutting anything substantial. They are just bringing the advertised price in line with the actual price paid. Revenue will hardly change. They haven't made anything more affordable, they are just trying to make it seem more affordable by giving up on their mostly imaginary sticker price.

[awadelewis]

Drew University announced a 20% reduction recently. Didn't Sewanee reduce tuition by 10% a couple years ago?

Sewanee dropped tuition by 10% in 2011.   The price reduction has been eroded over time to where the price is back to the same level as they were in 2011.   Our discount rate, based on the numbers in the Dept. of Ed. website mentioned upthread, was 53% in AY16-17 with an average aid package of $21K,  with $19K of that amount coming from sources other than government aid.   In our incoming class last year,  79% of incoming students received some form of need-based aid.

What's not clear about what B-SC has done is how those this change their approach to need-based aid.  Is the reduction such that it doesn't impact the institution bottom line?

[albatross]

Centre just started the game by running back the opening kickoff. Hendrix also forced to punt away...

Young kids from Conway are getting their first real test from an experienced team...

[albatross]

pick 6 will seal the deal in Danville. Impressed by Hendrix battling back to make it a one score game with 4 minutes to play before some bad mistakes killed their momentum. They have a shot in every game they play the rest of the way it looks like...

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity survives a 49-yard attempt with time running out to get their initial SAA win at Millsaps, 28-26.

[albatross]

Centre held off Hendrix's comeback and Berry handled Rhodes. Now it is time for the league's marquee game this upcoming Saturday. I remember two years ago when Centre went to Mount Berry and beat them to secure the outright championship for Hendrix. Should be a good one...

[BerryViking92]

And I remember Berry returning the favor last season 

[BerryViking92]

Nice win for Berry on Saturday.  Kinsey was the offensive stud, love to watch him.  Odd to have the game of the year so early in the season, but it appears to be what we get on Saturday night.  I will be there!

[albatross]

it is weird to have the de facto championship game so early in the season when these kinds of games are usually backloaded on the schedule. The only thing that might make things interesting is Hendrix lurking as a "chaos team" that probably won't the league, but really has a shot in every game they play. Of course, we might have a gauge for all this after this weekend's big game...

[BerryViking92]

Big game at Berry and Valhalla Stadium Saturday.  Very much looking forward to it, and very much expecting a tough game.  Safe travels to the folks from Kentucky.

[Ron Boerger]

Trinity blocks a Chapman chip shot FG with time running out to send the game into OT, then after missing a 43-yard FG in OT, sack the Chapman QB on their first OT play, forcing a fumble in the process, and Mitchell Globe scoops up the ball and rambles 63 yards in a 41-35 win.