Oso planning to go pro
Respectfully disagree. As a non-Catholic, I never felt that Marquette was overtly Catholic during my attendance. My room mate went to church on Sundays (or at night sometimes), but I never stepped foot in Gesu until two years ago. I never felt like religion was pushed on me outside of being required to take my two Theology classes. I think the Catholic angle works more on the older generations than it does the current generations. I never understand it when people say that they have, "strong Catholic ideals" because I didn't grow up with those ideals... but at the same time, those ideals are part of my personal ideology. I didn't need religion to learn to be a good person.I had RC, Jewish, and Muslim classmates while at Marquette, as well as people like myself who don't agree with organized religion. I am grateful that Marquette never attempted to alienate people from other faiths, nor was there a strong attempt to proselytize the 'others' towards RC. I'm not suggesting that Marquette become secular, but I think the RC angle is a selling point to wealthy parents who write checks. I certainly didn't attend MU for religious reasons. I attended because it is a respected school that produces strong alumni and offers high rates of job placements.
Pilarz was no fool. He knew he could attract students from his former area to come to MU if the board let him, and had he been given the chance I think he would have made inroads on that but instead the board ran him out of town which is a shame.
Both Valid Points. Wasn't referring to East Coast specifically, although it's still, and will remain for some time, the most densely populated part of the country. There's also a lot of wealth concentration there and the Big 10 are extremely popular with students there, whose families gladly pay out of state tuition without batting an eye. At the local Jesuit High School near where I live (Fairfield Prep), UW Madison is far more popular a destination than MU. I believe 4 of their students matriculated there in the last class, and they haven't had 4 students matriculate to MU from there in the last 10 years. Everyone in the MU community out there thinks there are so many great schools on the east coast how can MU compete? What they don't realize, because they're not here, is how many students from the Northeast attend colleges in the Midwest. That said, I agree the West and perhaps South are where there's more opportunity and that's great too! My broader point is, MU has the brand strength to compete for these students, they just don't think they do and that's what's so frustrating. Pilarz was no fool. He knew he could attract students from his former area to come to MU if the board let him, and had he been given the chance I think he would have made inroads on that but instead the board ran him out of town which is a shame.
That said, I agree the West and perhaps South are where there's more opportunity and that's great too! My broader point is, MU has the brand strength to compete for these students, they just don't think they do and that's what's so frustrating. Pilarz was no fool. He knew he could attract students from his former area to come to MU if the board let him, and had he been given the chance I think he would have made inroads on that but instead the board ran him out of town which is a shame.
Pilarz was terrible.
How so? I don't have any insight. All I heard was that he wasn't well liked by many board members because they thought he was elitist and they didn't care for his Northeastern POV. Not sure if that's true....I didn't know the guy but that's what I heard. The faculty apparently liked him more than other administrators.
Down 1 w 5 seconds left. Doable.
Pretty long article about lots of issues:https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2020/12/09/troubles-at-marquette-university/
The thing that I want to know is, what changed between 2018 and 2020? The strategy of getting more diverse hasn't really changed - they've been at about the same level (upper 20%) since 2015. I wonder if the financial issues cited in the article means they have had to cut institutional aid, making them less competitive price wise in the marketplace, and THAT'S what's driving enrollment down.
UW Madison is 100x more popular at our local Jesuit high school than MU, and so is Miami of Ohio, both of which are in the midwest, not the northeast, yet the families of these students gladly pay out of state tuition comparable to MU's for an educational experience that's arguably inferior when large class sizes are taken into account.
UW has a gigantic advantage over MU, nationally. UW has gone to 10 serious bowl games in 10 years, 4 of them Rose. They are a Top ~10 team every year. 5 of the past 10 years, they've gotten to the S16 or F4 in basketball.Sports success .. does wonders for national recognition. Serious question: If MU had hit the NCAAs ~every year this decade, getting to the ~2nd weekend every other year .. how much better would their economic position be?
I appreciate the article and the responses here.The article seemed to touch on exactly what I witnessed. Marquette administration argues that they don’t want to fill up empty seats with lower paying students if there are still some higher paying students out there. The problem, say faculty, is there aren’t many higher paying students to get.A letter sent to the administration and board by the Marquette Faculty Council on Dec. 3 expresses concerns about “the impact of decision-making that does not appear to be driven by careful analysis.” Among the concerns the faculty express is the move to reduce significantly discounted tuition so more students are paying full tuition.“Marquette should consider that even a student paying discounted tuition is bringing revenues into the institution,” the faculty group wrote. “Giving the admissions department a larger financial aid pool and greater latitude with the tuition discount rate will also impact student debt ratio,” the faculty add, which, they point out, is a factor in US News and World Report rankings for universities and colleges.In his most recent interview, Nathan Grawe said he could not specifically speak on Marquette’s situation; however, he did say, “It might be much better off financially to reach into the [financially poorer]student population if the alternative is to simply let the seats go empty.”I know I have mentioned before as my daughter desperately wanted to go to MU, but not at the price they were offering. She's a sophomore now at XU and very happy, so it worked out. If they increased the offer somewhat she would have been at MU. It was not a large increase request either, but the Dean said he was capped at what they could offer. We still would have been paying much more than the offer, so I was surprised they wouldn't match since as mentioned in this article. “Marquette should consider that even a student paying discounted tuition is bringing revenues into the institution,” I can see coming off a large class the year before they probably felt confident they were going to make enrollment projections again instead of seeing the first of several years of enrollment drop. Fluff's possible reason for the decrease does seem very reasonable.The recent campus projects list sounds like viable ideas, but extremely very bad luck at the timing on a few of them that's an albatross at the end of 2020. Maybe too many to implement, too fast?
What about the national narrative that is catching that college is too expensive and isn't guaranteeing jobs the way it was? Couple that with Covid.Are more kids entering trade school, or have schools asked students if they're taking an 'off year' before entering school next year with no Covid measures?Personally, I think Marquette has overspent on bricks the last two decades. Of course, some of that construction was required... but since I started school (2000) here are the new buildings on campus (I'm probably forgetting some as well).1. Al McGuire Center2. Raynor Library3. Eckstein hall4. Engineering hall5. Dentistry building6. The Commons7. PA studies building8. Zilber Hall9. Athletic and Human Performance Research Center10. Jes Res11. Campus Town East12. Wells Parking Structure13. Purchased The Marq14. Straz tower (East Hall) first year was 2000, I believe.15. Krueger Child Care CenterAnd special mention goes to the Campus Beautification project started in 2000-2001.I probably forgot some as well... seems like a lot.Yes, I realize this was a 20 year time period, so no need to point that out.
Looking at the buildings that those projects replaced, I think the vast majority were sensible. Buying The Marq was a bad move, IMO. And I'm curious why the Commons came in so over budget.I think MU has been fine with building, but have made some awful bets on acquiring land/buildings. The APRC/on-campus arena debacle being at the top of the list.
They are really expensive to replace. I think they are planning to replace Todd Wehr and Wehr Life Sciences as part of the Master Plan, but who knows when that will be.
I actually thought of your story when typing that paragraph. The problem wasn't necessary the refusal to match - a lot of schools have that policy. The problem may have been the initial offer just wasn't competitive.