Eleven Months Later: Private Colleges Have Still Not Publicly Released Their 2018 Financial Results
It is generally accepted that higher education is in the early stages of a shakeout. Private college closures have become more common - and certainly are gathering more attention when they happen.
Most private colleges end their fiscal years on June 30th of each year. The only readily available financial data is published through a national data center about 15 months later - during the Fall of the following year. It is a case of: "this is always the way we've done things".
The uncertainty about the financial viability of small to medium-sized private colleges and universities has created a need for more timely release of these financial reports by the colleges.
As I have researched the finances of private colleges for the past three years, it has taken me to countless news stories, blogs, and other media. These stories have many similar themes, but the one that is most alarming is that the current financial status of these private colleges is not readily available.
The hashtag: "ReleaseIn90" is now being used to encourage private colleges to make their audited financial statement pdf's (Here is an example.) readily available on their website within 90 days of the end of each fiscal year. While many would not be able to easily read and understand these financial statements, there are numerous resources that could provide easy-to-read and understand analysis.
There is a trust factor involved here. One can reasonably wonder if the most troubled of these private colleges are playing a legitimate, but less-than-ethical shell game with their students, parents, faculty, staff, and communities. The finances are bad, but they are released so long after the fact that it is too easy to rationalize that things are being fixed.
Reporting sources consistently post stories from these colleges that they have new marketing, or new branding, or new enrollment strategies to fix their financial issues.
Maybe.
There is also much literature to suggest that the demographic trends and tuition discount pressure cannot be fixed with marketing and new logos. Everyone is doing it. There is no substantive differentiation - just more costs for these struggling colleges to pay for services that probably won't bring the needed results.
It is time for these private colleges to stop continuing this historically slow releases of their audited financial statements. As I write this in June 2019, there are very few private colleges who have posted their financial statements from their fiscal year that ended in June 2018. The National Center for Education Statistics will not post the financial data from 2018 until the Fall of 2019.
The risks and trust that students, parents, faculty, staff, communities and others place in small and medium-sized private colleges should be rewarded with more timely updates of the finances of these institutions of higher learning.
