Five community colleges to merge

I’ve been forecasting and tracking college mergers for a while. Today I’d like to add another merger to the list.

Five Minnesota community colleges will merge within two years, according to Inside Higher Ed. That’s (in alpha order) Hibbing Community College, Itasca Community College, Mesabi Range College (which has two campuses), Rainy River Community College, and Vermilion Community College, all part of Minnesota’s Northeast Higher Education District.

The system’s trustees approved this plan last month.

How will the merger work?

Accreditation will become unified. One side effect will be “staff… hav[ing] single databases to look at student records, bills and personnel lists, as opposed to having to toggle between five databases…” “Budgets, academic programming and enrollment management systems will also be shared…” And staff may shrink: “staffing levels will depend on enrollment, and the district would utilize attrition and retirements rather than layoffs if cuts were necessary.”

Two desired results: “It will also be easier for students to transfer within the district, and the colleges will no longer be competing with each other for students.” As NHED’s interim president, Michael Raich, put it: “We will create seamless learning experiences for students across the region…”

On Twitter SynthBio was very hopeful:

Interested in your take on this Mr. Alexander. My first reaction is that it might reinvigorate struggling CCs and become a national model. But will it narrow academic choice, classes etc? Will larger campuses dominate planning, budget, etc?

- SynthBio (@SynthBio) February 10, 2020

Why is this happening?

The major reason is an enrollment drop, amounting to “a decline in full-time-equivalent students of about 35 percent since 2011.” A local newspaper notes that “Rainy River Community College, in International Falls, for example, currently has fewer than 100 students enrolled.” This is driven in part by low unemployment rates (community college enrollment is tied closely to them). As Minam put it on Twitter, “They got jobs and started going to work..” Demographics also play a role, since the state’s aging, like many midwestern states. More Minnesotans live in cities now, which drains population away from rural areas, like those served by these colleges.

(Low enrollment isn’t a problem just afflicting these five Minnesota colleges:

Over all, the Minnesota state system has lost about 20 percent of its enrollment over the past decade, according to Bill Maki, interim vice chancellor for finance and facilities at the system.

The Timberjay says that state enrollment has declined for nine years.)

To answer SynthBio’s questions, I think this is a very sound step, strategically. Enrollment declines can lead to layoffs, queen sacrifices, and closures. Here these five colleges can band together, pool resources, and increase their chances of survival.

I have some questions — and must admit that I lack local knowledge, as an outsider. First, will they manage this without faculty or staff layoffs? Second, how comfortable are staff and faculty about the change? Inside Higher Ed’s coverage represented them as being cautious, while also calling for compassion.

Will this narrow academic choices? I’m not sure. The interim president says the merger can expand academic options, which makes sense, as students win easier access to offerings at other campuses. But I wonder about the trend of guided pathways, and also about Iron Range access to broadband for online learning.

What about larger campuses gobbling up small ones? Yes, we have seen academic versions of asymmetrical mergers and acquisitions ( for example). Perhaps the smallest NHED campuses will find themselves dominated by the larger, unless leadership strives to balance them out.

As a sign of a general trend, keep watching for such radical moves. Overall enrollments are still declining nationwide. Unemployment remains low. Rural areas are suffering. Perhaps all of these stimuli will be enough to seriously grow inter-campus collaboration at all levels.

Originally published at https://bryanalexander.org on February 10, 2020.