The Board of Visitors’ Committee on the College at Wise met Friday to discuss the school’s enrollment, student life, fundraising efforts and scholarship programs. College at Wise Chancellor Donna Price Henry said the school is “doing all the right things,” when it comes to maintaining enrollment and preparedness for the future.
The Committee on the College at Wise is the Board’s committee dedicated solely to the affairs of the University’s Wise, Va. campus. The administration from the College at Wise presents updates on the school to the Board, including University administrators, including presentations on the budget, fundraising, academics and student life.
Henry presented the 2023 report by the Commonwealth’s Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, which placed the College at Wise at a moderate risk level for institutional viability — or the expectation of an institution’s ability to sustain itself for the foreseeable future. She cited the finding of a 17 percent decrease in the amount of tuition dollars spent per student between 2021 and 2022.
But Henry presented information that she said counters the findings of the report because the report was conducted right after the COVID-19 pandemic, a down period for enrollment. She highlighted areas where the College at Wise has had success recently, such as in rising enrollment numbers.
“We've had great enrollment increases, so I don't think the risk that we have is as high as what they were thinking,” Henry said.
Henry also cited the $12 million the Commonwealth of Virginia invested into the College at Wise in 2022, after the report was conducted, noting that the College has greatly increased its funding per student. The school has also adopted existing contracts that the University system pays for, such as Microsoft 365 and Canvas, to use its funds more efficiently.
“All of these efficiencies have been great for the college as we're moving forward, and have saved money across both institutions,” Henry said.
Part of investment per student, according to Henry, includes the financial aid the school is able to provide to those who need it. Henry presented a slide showing that among all public Virginia colleges and universities, students receiving financial aid from the College at Wise pay the lowest share of tuition, at just 27 percent.
The College at Wise started out with a goal of covering all tuition and fees for any student with a household income of less than $40,000, according to Henry, but the College has now increased that level to households making less than $80,000. The main campus of the University covers all tuition and fees for household incomes less than $100,000.
But, according to Henry, one factor that could complicate these successes is the “enrollment cliff,” a term used by higher education professionals referring to the idea that U.S. high school graduates will reach a peak in 2025 and then decline thereafter — the result of declining birth rates — leading to reduced enrollment at college and universities. Henry said while the College at Wise is certainly susceptible to the enrollment cliff, it has taken steps to avoid a dropoff in applicants and students.
“If you would have asked me the past 11 years of my chancellorship, what are the things that keep me awake at night, [the] top three would be enrollment,” Henry said.
Henry said the concern is elevated because the population of Southwestern Virginia, where the College at Wise is located, is expected to decline significantly over the next 10 years.
But the College at Wise has taken measures to increase the number of applicants, such as removing the fee required to apply. Because of these measures, Henry said they have seen encouraging numbers. According to Henry, the College has already received over 3,000 applicants for next fall, already higher than their 10-year average of 1,000. Last cycle, the College received approximately 6,400 applications, though prospective students still have until August to submit applications as admission is rolling.
“I think that if you ask [the vice chancellor for enrollment management], he would say he's still cautiously optimistic that we can continue to grow,” Henry said. “I think we're doing all the right things.”
Vice Chancellor for Advancement Valerie Lawson provided updates on a stream of revenue other than tuition for the College at Wise, which is fundraising.
Lawson announced that as of Friday morning, the College had reached $100 million raised from its “Honor the Future Campaign” — well above the original goal — due in part to an $11.2 million gift from the Bill Gatton Foundation, the largest single gift in school history. The campaign and donation bring the school’s total endowment to $181.7 million.
Lawson said she hopes this increase will provide financial incentives for prospective students, as 78 percent of the endowment is designated for scholarships.
Karen Carter, associate professor of information systems, closed the meeting by providing updates on local programs and student life at the College at Wise.
Carter detailed a recent event the College held for sixth grade students to encourage their participation in science, technology, mathematics, engineering and health, in which 478 students attended.
For students at the College itself, Carter said they have expanded their political science program with a new class to provide students with hands-on political experience. The class was oriented around a project in which each student in the class acted as a member of the U.S. Senate for the semester, and culminated the program by going on a trip to Washington, D.C. to meet Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia.
Carter said the College at Wise has also expanded its study abroad programs, with a group headed to Belize during winter break. Other study abroad programs include Scotland, Southern France and South Africa during spring break, and Iceland, Greece, London and Paris during the summer break.
The next meeting of the Committee on the College at Wise will take place when the Board meets Mar. 6 and 7.
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