Last Tuesday evening, President Mullen hosted a meeting with prominent student leaders to address the college budget and other related concerns.
Mullen opened the meeting with a bold, yet contradictory, statement about the state of the school. “This is an amazing time to be at Houghton College,” she said. “But it’s also a very difficult time to be involved in higher education.” While Mullen emphasized that liberal arts colleges are the “kind of institution that both our church and our society need more than ever,” several challenges threaten the stability of universities across the nation—and Houghton is no exception.
The first of these challenges is financial. Mounting skepticism about the viability and worth of college degrees, along with alternatives to traditional undergraduate educations,
“Most private colleges actually do not charge students what the education costs,” Mullen explained. “That is especially acute at a place like Houghton,” she said, adding that 40% of Houghton students are eligible for federal Pell grants. “There is a $10,000 gap between what the average student pays to come here and what it actually costs to educate them.” During 2017, the college’s cost per student came to $32,865 while its net student revenue lagged at only $22,324.
In addition, Mullen pointed out that several of the college’s core academic programs—such as equestrian studies, music, education, and STEM—are “all or nothing” programs that require a certain minimum investment to receive approval from the state. Houghton remains equally committed to affordability and academic quality. The college’s challenge, according to Mullen, lies in “deal[ing] with that budget reality without harming student experience.”
Mullen identified several distinctive qualities that “make [Houghton’s] issues a little more difficult than others.” The first of these is the highly polarizing “rural factor.” Incoming students often place Houghton’s rural environment in the top three factors for attending, while students who choose not to come to the college often cite its remote location as one of their top three reasons.
Ideological issues also complicate matters. “Houghton is in a very fascinating place on the political-theological spectrum,” Mullen added. “A lot of Christians to the right think we’re too liberal, and a lot of people who are a part of mainline Christianity see Houghton as too conservative. There’s a whole part of the Christian word that doesn’t want to be in a ‘liberal arts college,’ so we don’t necessarily fit the mold of the Christian colleges that are marketing themselves as the ‘true’ Christian colleges.”
Another challenge lies in swiftly changing demographics. “The traditional population that has come to Houghton is changing,” Mullen said. “A lot of colleges are feeling that change.” She added that the four biggest growing populations in higher education are international students, ethnic and racial minorities (particularly Hispanic and Latino), adult students, and part-time students.
Mullen confirmed that the working budget for the 2018-2019 year has a deficit of approximately $3 million. She specified that roughly $900,000 of that number consists of “wish list items” for the next academic term, that $500,000 was added to fortify Houghton’s financial aid program against the termination of federal Perkins loans, and $1.7 million is due to a large enrollment shortfall in previous years. “There’s been several years where the board has let us run a deficit budget,” Mullen explained. “It’s easy for me to look back and wish they hadn’t. You have to balance it at some point.
“We’re at a point right now where, to take Houghton forward, we need to come to terms with what seems to be the reality which we’re dealing with, and which has probably been here for several years,” she continued. “It’s not like suddenly something has gone horribly wrong. For a long time, people in higher education thought ‘next year is going to be different.’ The overwhelming majority of public and private colleges are dealing with this.”
Mullen added that, from the administration’s perspective, revenue diversification will be crucial over the next few years. She confirmed that Houghton will “continue having a strong residential undergraduate program,” but that the college is committed to expanding online course offerings and offsite degree programs like its current satellite campuses in Buffalo and Utica. These programs, according to Mullen, are well suited for “urban areas where there are students that want a Christian education, but don’t want to come to a rural area.”
This diversification of revenue streams is integral to the administration’s commitment to retaining core academic programs. “We are being careful not to fix our budget problems by cutting faculty and staff,” Mullen said, before reiterating the importance of extracurricular activities. “Every athletic team, music ensemble, and major is a revenue generator.”
Responding to Mullen’s comments, student body president Sergio Mata ‘19 expressed concern about whether the budget will still balance if next year’s enrollment numbers are not met. According to the annual Survey of Admissions Directors, only 34% of all colleges met their admissions goals in 2017. That number was down from 42% just two years prior. Mata also expressed a hope that the administration will hold to their promise of maintaining strong student experiences rather than cutting programs.
Responding to a student question about the resignation of Vincent Morris, Vice President of Finance, the President expressed regret for not being able to address the situation more fully.
“I can’t say a lot about any personnel decisions,” she said, referring to legal precedent that prevents academic institutions from making public statements that may damage a former employee’s prospects at another educational institution. “It’s a legal issue. People have the right to tell their own story, so the person can say whatever they want to say, but the college can’t. I feel like it’s better that way and fairer to the person.”
I have great appreciation for Vince and what he brought to the college,” she continued. “This is the hardest kind of thing because I can’t give my reasons for it. I do not make these decisions willingly…and the hardest thing is knowing the impact on students.”
Another student question focused on whether smaller programs, such as recreation and philosophy, will be rolled back to make room in the budget. “One of the biggest heartbreaks I have about liberal arts education is that we don’t have enough people going into those areas,” Mullen said. “We are committed to the humanities. I’ve had multiple discussions with the Academic Dean. We’ve got to find some way to think about the humanities that doesn’t just involve majors…A lot of colleges are just axing these programs because of numbers.
“We’re looking for people in English and history who can help to reenergize and rethink what we’re doing in these areas,” she continued. “The bar is higher now. What I’m trying desperately right now to do is to maintain a core. It’s foundational to education in general, whether or not people major in it.”
Near the end of her address, President Mullen urged students to speak boldly and bluntly with the administration about any concerns they may have. “We try very hard in the presidential staff to make decisions that will protect the student experience,” she said. “But I don’t know if the things we think are important about the student experience are the ones that students think are important.”