As Losses Mount, Webster Seeks Answers

 

written by STEVE ULRICH your must-read briefing on what's driving the day in NCAA Division III   >> Good Morning DIII! It's the last day of January. One down, 11 to go. >> Do Your Record Books Need An Update? Email us. We have solutions. >> Thanks for reading D3Playbook. Help us keep this site free. Support D3Playbook and click on our advertisers' links.    I know someone who would like D3Playbook TOP STORY 1.  As Losses Mount, Webster Seeks Answers by Steph Kukuljan, Blythe Bernhard, St. Louis Post-Dispatch "For nearly a decade, Webster University has seen enrollment decline by thousands of students and debt rise by the tens of millions of dollars. The private college, located at Big Bend Boulevard and Edgar Road, faces a precarious future, one that analysts have little faith will improve any time soon, as annual losses reach $25 million. And Webster’s bet on pivoting from being an arts-focused institution to one catering to business, technology and health sciences — leading it to take out over $60 million in bonds to construct new high-tech buildings at its main campus here — has yet to pay off." >> Situational Awareness: "In recent years, the college has failed to attract enough students to offset expenses, despite raising tuition. An increase in international students has boosted enrollment system-wide for the upcoming school year following a significant drop. Over a six-year period from 2015 to 2021, Webster’s enrollment declined 42% from a little over 17,000 students to 10,000, according to university audits and bond documents." >> Between The Lines: "Tuition also rose 17 percent over the same period, from $25,300 to $29,640 per academic year. Yet, despite tuition increases, revenue plummeted from $186.7 million in 2016 to $133.6 million in fiscal 2021. During the same period, the university’s losses continued to spiral from $12.8 million to $24.5 million, financial filings show." >> The Big Picture: Other private colleges here are facing similar financial pressures, but not of the same magnitude as Webster. Fontbonne University has seen enrollment drop below 1,000 in the past couple years. Its expenses have continued to outpace revenue, though they have improved from a loss of $5 million in the 2015-2016 academic year, according to the latest available financial filings. Across the country, dozens of smaller colleges have shuttered in recent years, including MacMurray Colleges." >> Quotable: “It boils down to a supply-and-demand issue,” said Lisa Washburn, managing director at Municipal Market Analytics. “We’ve just got too many seats for too few students. Add to that rising costs and a pandemic, and some schools just become uneconomical to run.” >> Continue Reading A MESSAGE FROM HUDL/BLUEFRAME TECHNOLOGY     Ready to stream like a pro this season? With Hudl (formerly BlueFrame), powerful broadcasting tools meet the advanced capture capabilities of Hudl Focus, bringing your program unmatched opportunities to generate revenue and connect with your fans. Plus, you get the flexibility to select the streaming option that makes the most sense for your school. [Learn More] ICE HOCKEY (M) 2.  Plattsburgh Vaults Into Top 10 photo by Gabe Dickens Plattsburgh State made a five-spot leap into the top 10 at No. 6 as the USCHO.com DIII men's ice hockey poll was released Monday. Utica (15), 16-2-1 Hobart (4), 19-2 Adrian, 16-3-2 Endicott (1), 17-1-1 Curry, 15-3-1 Plattsburgh, 15-4-2 Aurora, 15-4-2 Norwich, 15-4-2 Geneseo, 13-5-2 UW-Stevens Point, 13-5-3 >> Power Play Prowess: Adrian's man-up unit is the best in DIII, scoring 41.0 percent of the time on the power play. Endicott is the only other unit nationally above 30 percent (30.9%). >> Penalty Killers: UW-Stevens Point tops DIII in penalty killing percentage, snuffing out 93.7 percent of all power play chances for the opposition. Bethel is a close second at 93.0%. >> Complete Poll ICE HOCKEY (W) 3.  Amherst Aiming For Top Spot The top four teams in the USCHO.com DIII women's ice hockey poll stayed in place in this week's rankings. UW-River Falls (18), 18-2 Gustavus Adolphus (1), 16-2 Amherst (1), 18-1 Plattsburgh State, 18-2 Hamilton, 14-3-1 Adrian, 17-2 Norwich, 14-5-1 Middlebury. 10-5-2 UW-Eau Claire, 17-3-1 Elmira, 16-5 >> Road Warriors: UW-River Falls has won 18 consecutive games away from home ice - eight more games than Amherst who has a 10-game road streak. >> Power Play Ranger: UW-Eau Claire's Sophie Rausch has tallied nine of her 26 goals on the power play this season to lead all of Division III >> Complete Poll A MESSAGE FROM MORNING BREW     2.6 million people wake up to this newsletter every morning There's a reason over 2.6 million people start their day with Morning Brew - the daily email that delivers the latest news from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. Business news doesn't have to be dry and dense...make your mornings more enjoyable, for free.   Check it out! Powered by Swapstack BASKETBALL (M) 4.  Blue Jays Fly Into Top 10 Welcoming Johns Hopkins to the top 10 in the latest D3hoops.com men's basketball ranking, while saying adios to Williams. St. Joseph's, Conn. (15), 20-0 Randolph-Macon (10), 19-1 Middlebury, 17-2 Christopher Newport, 18-3 Mount Union, 17-2 Keene State, 19-1 John Carroll, 17-2 Wheaton, Ill., 17-3 Johns Hopkins, 16-3 Swarthmore, 17-2 >> The Eraser: Emerson's Jarred Houston tops DIII in blocks with 78 or 4.11 per game. Middlebury's Alex Sobel has 77 rejections for a 4.05 per outing average. >> Home, Sweet Home: Randolph-Macon has won 59 consecutive games at Crenshaw Gym dating to 2018. The Yellow Jackets' last home loss came against Eastern Mennonite on Jan. 24, 2018, by a 70-69 count. The DIII record is 62 straight home victories, established by North Park from Feb. 8, 1984 to Feb. 3, 1988. >> Complete Poll BASKETBALL (W) 5.  "T" Time as Trinity, Transy Remain 1-2 photo by Scott Burkhalter Two new teams join the top 10 in the latest D3hoops.com women's basketball poll - Hardin-Simmons and DeSales - while Babson and Baldwin Wallace bow out. Trinity, Texas (19), 19-0 Transylvania (5), 19-0 Christopher Newport (1), 20-0 Scranton, 19-0 Smith, 18-1 Hope, 18-2 New York U., 15-2 Hardin-Simmons, 18-2 DeSales, 18-1 Chicago, 16-2 >> Filling The Stat Sheet: A pair of players - SUNY Poly's Molly Burdick and Meredith's Kate Perko - share the DIII lead in double-doubles with 16. Saint Elizabeth's Destiny Battle has three triple-doubles to her credit. >> From Way Downtown: Sewanee's Lilly Phillips has the best range in DIII, leading the country with 70 three-point field goals. Lyric Grumblatt of Rivier (67) and Kean's Shannon McCoy (66) are not far behind in second and third, respectively. >> Complete Poll   STREAMING 6.  What to Watch What we're watching online this Tuesday night. All times EST  MBB: Nazareth (15-3) at Utica (16-2), 7:30p  WIH: #2 Gustavus Adolphus (16-2) at #1 UW-River Falls (18-2), 8:05p NEWS 7.  Lightning Round    News  The Culvers Isthmus Bowl will sign a 3-year memorandum of understanding to keep the game at the Bank of Sun Prairie Stadium at Ashley Field through 2025.   Our condolences to the family and friends of former Marian director of athletics and head women's volleyball coach Doug Hammonds, who passed away at the age of 57. May his memory be a blessing   Happy Birthday Cake and candles for Bill Wilson, senior director of athletics, Wilmington; and Dick Lenfest, athletic director, Westfield State Do you know of someone celebrating an upcoming birthday? Drop us a line at D3Playbook@gmail.com TRANSACTIONS 8.  Comings and Goings   ITHACA - Liam McKersie named assistant men's soccer coach JOHN JAY - Joey Jarzynka named digital multimedia manager La GRANGE - Wesley Dodson named head football coach MAINE MARITIME - OJ Logue stepped down as head cross country coach. Bryan Wolf named interim head coach MARY HARDIN-BAYLOR - Alex Farah named assistant football coach OBERLIN - John Pont named head football coach RHODES - Averill Erdody named head field hockey coach RUTGERS-NEWARK - Nate Guagliardi named head women's soccer coach SUNY MORRISVILLE - Chris Cooper named head men's lacrosse coach Thanks for starting your day with us. 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