Recruitment News

Challenging times and change

by Robert J. Massa, Vice President for Enrollment and College Relations

April 1, 2009

I thought I had seen it all during my decades as a college admissions/aid professional, but the challenges I have witnessed since this fall are unprecedented.

I entered the field in 1974, as colleges and universities were preparing for an era of unprecedented growth. Even then, middle-income students were concerned about the price of private higher education. As a young professional in 1978, I wrote in the Colgate Scene that “once our price rose above $10,000, the demand for a Colgate education is likely to decline.” Quite the young prophet!

As I moved to Union College in 1980, the impact of the Middle Income Student Assistance Act was beginning to be felt. Students began to borrow more to afford college, and colleges were devoting more money to need-based grants. But before the decade was out, the rise of non-need, so-called “merit,” scholarships began. By 1986, colleges were competing against one another on price as never before. While there always had been price competition based on need, the acceleration of non-need discounts changed the admissions landscape forever. Value became synonymous with net price not with quality for the dollar.

By the early ’90s, this competitive mentality seeped into our practices and into the public consciousness. As the dean of enrollment at Johns Hopkins I was involved in a Justice Department investigation of 62 colleges that sought evidence of “collusion” on need-based aid awards. The result was to discontinue financial-aid data sharing, even though students benefited when price was removed as the decisive factor in college choice. When we could no longer share data, the bidding wars were legitimized—especially with non-need discounts.

At the same time, the country entered a recession, and college applications declined. Many institutions developed new marketing plans and others began to develop non-need scholarships to compete. Dickinson did not adopt merit aid until significant application and enrollment declines forced it to enter the fray in 1996. Those that adapted to the changing environment late took longer to recover.

When I became vice president in 1999, Dickinson applications had rebounded somewhat from their low three years earlier, but financial-aid expenditures were exorbitant. New enrollment-management tools, marketing messages and admission and awarding practices resulted in a decreased discount and increased student enrollment, diversity and academic quality. This could not have been accomplished if Dickinson were not the progressive college that it is.

But the first decade of the new millennium is not without its difficulties. Demographic changes projected to start in 2010 will affect us greatly. Fewer students will graduate from Northeast high schools, and racial and socioeconomic shifts will be significant. At Dickinson, we began planning in 2005 for this downturn and adjusted our travel and messages accordingly. Though the rising price was making it more difficult to recruit, the college-applications frenzy reported by the media resulted in huge application numbers.

Before the confluence of disastrous economic events during the last half of 2008, we already had planned to increase our aid commitments with no enrollment growth, resulting in less net tuition income. Now, with endowment earnings down and annual gifts lagging, Dickinson and others face decisions that will alter the way they operate and their programmatic offerings for years to come.

Many of our peers are down in applications this year because families are afraid to commit to high tuition bills. While this may be a “correction” in the market, it makes it more difficult for us to project enrollments and revenue for fiscal year 2010. Dickinson has fared better than most, with fewer “lost” applications, but we will still have enrollment and financial challenges ahead that will require us to work efficiently and smartly. But with strong leadership and an unwavering commitment to the founding principles of this college, Dickinson will emerge stronger after this most difficult period.

Which brings me to a final change. After 35 years in higher education—and two decades as the chief enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins and Dickinson—it is time for me to step down from the vice presidency. After June 30, I will take some time for myself and look for other ways I may contribute to the well-being of young people as they aspire to brighter futures. Ten years at Dickinson have gone all too fast, but I am proud of what we have accomplished together, and I shall always be grateful for the opportunity to serve Dr. Rush’s college. Dickinson and its people have been the highlight of my career. I will miss you all deeply.