This Week In College Viability (TWICV) for July 20, 2026

This Week In College Viability (TWICV) for July 20, 2026

From This Week In College Viability (TWICV) by Gary Stocker

July 20, 2026 · 25 min · Episode 231

About this episode

The episode discusses financial pressures on higher education, focusing on accreditation warnings and ethical dilemmas faced by colleges.

In this podcast episode, I examine several important developments that illustrate the growing financial pressures facing higher education. I begin by discussing three San Francisco Bay Area colleges that have received serious warnings from their accreditor to improve both their financial performance and student outcomes. I also explore the story of Northland College in Wisconsin, where donor-restricted endowment funds were used to help keep the institution operating before it ultimately closed. While the actions may have been legal, I question the ethical implications and argue that financially distressed colleges often find themselves making increasingly difficult decisions simply to survive. I also discuss several national issues that I believe will shape the future of higher education. I review proposed federal changes to accreditation and explain why I believe today's accreditation system already does too little to evaluate either academic quality or financial health. I highlight Moody's decision to downgrade Brown University's outlook to negative as evidence that even well-resourced institutions face significant financial challenges, and I review new research from Dr. Robert…

People in this episode

Host: Gary Stocker

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Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: San Francisco Bay Area colleges, Northland College, Brown University

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