School’s focus must be on building endowment

Last week the North Central College president and trustees announced a change for the legacy title of the 165-year-old school. Starting in July of next year, it will be known as North Central University Naperville.

The main rationale offered is that the future of the school is threatened by a declining demographic in the college bound population increasing competition for future enrollments.

Is a name change the right strategy for NCC? If so, why aren’t other competitive colleges in the region following suit?

Wheaton College, Grinnell College, Carleton College, St. Olaf College, all with smaller student bodies, are choosing not to play the enrollment game, i.e., depending upon future student tuition to assure their financial survival. While North Central is momentarily benefiting from a successive run of record enrollments from enhanced curricular and non-curricular attractions, these cohort schools are building endowments to secure their futures in a more competitive student market! Grinnell and Carleton are managing endowments of well over a billion dollars while Wheaton and St. Olaf are approaching a billion.

The name change strategy is merely a distraction for the trustees of an institution charged with securing the future of the institution facing escalating its capital liability in new buildings and campus enhancements in recent years. Only a viable endowment producing sufficient income for costly expenses of property maintenance and untimely emergencies can protect income from paid tuition to maintain high quality academic programs.

Yes, the expanded graduate level academic offerings at NCC makes the grade for being a small university. If adding the name Naperville to the title of the school is a strategy to access new corporate and personal wealth needed for endowing its future, congratulations to the trustees of NCC. If not, it only clutters the title in a fast moving attention getting media environment.

Robert J. Harman

Milwaukee