SHAKING OUT THAT SUBOPTIMAL CAPACITY.

The wolf comes for DePaul.

DePaul faces a budget gap of $56 million for the upcoming fiscal year.

Now the Chicago institution is moving forward with a plan to fix its budget projections—including measures that will likely include shedding employees and programs.

The wolf that came for the state-supported universities howls at DePaul. "But the austerity in state universities that accompanied the shakeout of the unionized oligopoly industries that paid the taxes was an opportunity to raise admission standards and downsize the student body concomitantly with the faculty. That is not what happened. Just pick any month of my posts and read about it."

Given its historically strong enrollment, large alumni base and endowment of over $825 million, DePaul will likely rebound and does not appear at risk of closing or merging, as many other Catholic colleges have. But its struggles raise a question: What does it mean for Catholic higher education if one of the largest and most well-known institutions is facing such a severe budget gap?

I never lacked for opportunities to gripe, because the poobahs of the state universities doubled down on access-assessment-remediation-retention.  So too will it be for DePaul.

Experts and insiders suggest that the market challenges that have driven other institutions out of business are on DePaul’s doorstep, leaving leaders looking for a way to plug the $56 million budget gap and employees anxious about what the future holds.

DePaul president Robert Manuel noted the budget challenges in a statement to Inside Higher Ed.

“Like almost every higher education institution across the country, DePaul is working to design a budget that enables us to deliver a quality and impactful education that best serves our students. Grounding ourselves in our Catholic, Vincentian mission is critical to our continued relevance as an institution of higher education and guides us in these difficult financial decisions,” Manuel wrote.

DePaul attributed the budget gap to a number of factors: changing enrollment demographics nationwide, including a decrease in graduate school enrollment; the discontinuation of coronavirus relief funds from the federal government; rising operational costs driven by inflation; and increases in need-based and merit-based financial aid.

The article focuses on a number of challenges facing universities organized in the Catholic tradition. It appears to me, though, that the Church of Diversity and Inclusion is the cause of the troubles.

In a statement, DePaul also pointed to its commitment to first-generation students, noting that they make up about one-third of the undergraduate population. Low-income students also form a sizable portion of enrollments, with nearly 5,000 students—almost a quarter of the study body—receiving Pell Grants for the 2021–22 academic year, according to the latest available data.

Now, as DePaul seeks to ensure continued access to underserved students, it is moving forward with a plan to offer incentives to employees willing to depart voluntarily and to eliminate unfilled positions. It is also reviewing “teaching considerations based on enrollment and class scheduling to reduce redundant sections and vacant lines,” the statement noted, hinting at cuts ahead.

Note: it's not that students are staying away because the university's speech policies are redolent of the Spanish Inquisition (I know, I know, the Jesuit institutions in the area are Loyola and Marquette); rather it's that this talk about "access to underserved students" that helps U.S. News sell those guides; and reducing section offerings might not be the best way to serve students whose lives might be chaotic.