Wow! I never imagined that would happen.
I wonder what they will do with all those horses? And the riding facility, which is not very old.
As a Sweet Briar alumna, this hurts my soul.
I remember Cazenovia being on my long list of college choices because of their equestrian program. Now much of that list has closed, almost closed, or drastically reorganized.
We have to fix the college crisis. The homogenization of education is not good for society.
Saw this coming. Private colleges have become SO expensive and enrollment in 4 year colleges is down steeply. Many have shut down, and many more closures are coming. Families just don’t see the value in paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for an education that doesn’t result in a degree from an elite school. They’d rather choose a public state school or some other alternative. Can anyone blame them?
Meanwhile, the obsession with elite private schools is going strong. Those schools are doing better than ever. It’s just the mid and lower tier private schools that are struggling.
Curious what you mean by this.
Yup. Writing was on the wall, sadly. Caz’s enrollment was down 40% and they defaulted on a $25M loan earlier this fall. The coming demographic cliff is only going to worsen the enrollment crisis across Higher Ed.
The large university systems are growing larger and the smaller colleges and universities are in a death spiral. At this rate the entire higher education landscape will be controlled by a few players eventually.
I don’t disagree, but then you have all the elite colleges who refuse to grow, even though the demand is astronomical. That I just don’t understand. It’s like keeping their rejection rates high keeps them prestigious.
And their prestige will probably continue to grow if they are among the only players left and competition is gone.
But most of them have expanded in ways, whether it be online programs or additional graduate degrees.
Our higher education system has made some mistakes, mostly in the sense that a lot of colleges refused to adapt to the 21st century in favor of maintaining the status quo (at hugely inflated prices to fund it). But it would be an incredible loss to no longer have a diverse educational landscape of different types of colleges offering a variety of programs and perspectives.
Like Cazenovia- I have mixed feelings on equine management degrees, but I am glad they exist because keeping horses in higher ed helps drive research and education in the field.
There’s an amazing documentary called “Ivory Tower” that’s available to rent on Amazon. It’s a little dated (2014), but it makes some great points about why the cost of higher education has exploded…and what alternatives are gaining popularity.
One of the articles said that the cost for Cazenovia College was around $50,000 a year, including room and board. So $200,000 for a four-year degree. Ouch.
Which is pretty much the going rate for a private 4 year college. There are some in that category that are more affordable, also many that are more expensive for a similar program.
We are going to be seeing this a lot more. It’s actually happening multiple times a year, but most of the colleges shuttering aren’t well known. Cazenovia is only well known to me because of their equestrian program.
That’s actually on the cheaper end of private colleges and universities. Many are $70K/year now including room and board.
This is actually one of my soapbox issues and I’m trying to hold back. But college is a kid’s first big financial decision. Why the F would we teach them that $200-300K on an undergraduate degree is a good investment?
You’re doing a much better job than I am!
I’m a big supporter of higher ed, but I don’t know why the F anyone would think raising prices to their current level was a sustainable solution. I am also BIG MAD about the push in the 90s/00s for “everyone needs to go to college!” “Design your own major!” “Get a 4 year degree in barn management!” “Be a marine biologist in Indiana!” Colleges capitalized on the Boomers’ kids, took their money for degrees with no earnings potential, all while making zero preparations for the baby bust generation’s kids coming down the pipeline.
But at the same time, these colleges contribute more good than bad. Education is a good thing and it’s a shame that greed and money has convinced people otherwise. These stuffy boards and admins need to stop clinging to outdated modes of operation and find a way to make themselves relevant again. Instead, they grasp at bandaid solutions that ultimately fail.
Edited: typos
How does it do this?
Because it is the large (mostly state) universities that have the DVM programs as well as the Animal Science programs. They don’t have the same equestrian programs and teams as the smaller, private schools. But they do have the research.
Eh, good riddance to Cazenovia. That program is a farce. (I know I spent a year there). I have a hard time even calling the program a business program
You are right that the big universities have putting out the research. But even a tiny program like Cazenovia helps by:
- By employing professors who come out of larger equine degree programs, keeping them in demand
- By creating a demand for curriculum based on the research in the larger equine degree programs
- By hopefully helping grow another generation of equine academics to continue on in the field
You are not the first person to say that. It has a lot of unhappy consumers. Which makes me SO MAD because colleges take huge sums of money for poorly designed and executed programs and lose people’s trust.
But small schools with horses/equine programs can potentially bring a lot of good to the equestrian community on the whole. I get really angry when I watch colleges try to fit things like barn management into the 4 year degree mold. There are so many more creative ways you could offer equine studies and give someone a degree that is worth something in multiple careers outside horses.
NY State also has an incredibly robust public university program compared with many states. There are the SUNYs, CUNYs, and some incredibly good community college programs. Even some of Cornell University’s programs offer in-state tuition for in-state residents.
I went to a private liberal arts school–an elite one–but even they (IMHO) are going to become dying breeds in the next 20+ years, as there is an increasing demand degrees pay for themselves. Even upper middle-class parents are reluctant to send kids to private schools just to “learn how to learn.” And if I was a NY state parent, truthfully, if my kid got into one of the jewels of the SUNY system, I certainly wouldn’t be happy if they opted for more loans to study equine science at a private college for more $$$.
