The enrollment drop this school year will have an estimated impact on finances of $1 million. Southern reported a loss of 71 full-time students- 64 undergraduates and seven graduate students.
“That doesn’t mean we’ve cut a million dollars of services or expenses out of the budget,” said Senior Vice President of Financial Administration Thomas Verrill. “That just means we are currently in a position where our budgeted income is $1 million less than our budgeted expenses.”
Despite the million-dollar deficit, administrators have decided to not make any cuts in the school’s budget.
“We are in a strong financial position, so we don’t need to make immediate drastic decisions,” said Verrill. “Over time, we’re going to figure out what are ways we can pull the finances closer to where we need to be. But we would rather do that than to make hasty decisions that will harm us in the long run.”
Projects that have been budgeted for this year - among them the new Bietz Center for Student Life - will still take place. Southern also has implemented six new full-time positions and does not plan to stop any of the current services offered to students.
“The real challenge is looking forward to next year,” said Marty Hamilton, associate vice president of financial administration. “Everything that we do takes a year of planning. The budget impact this year could affect what we do next year.”
At the moment Southern’s administration is studying the factors leading to the drop of enrollment. Applications and admissions by student are some of the analyzed factors.
“Since our enrollment fell short of our budgeted goal for this school year, we are dedicated to studying our enrollment trends and to gleaning helpful information that will aid in making data-informed decisions for the future of Southern.
“Southern is consistently working to improve our student service areas with a desire to assist students both on and off our campus,” said President Dave Smith “We have high expectations for a positive school year and look forward to what God has in store.”
Southern isn’t the only school affected by enrollment. Across the country undergraduate enrollment has decreased by 7% since 2010, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). A study by Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP) also showed that low-income students cannot afford 95% of colleges.