Stonehill College’s downsizing having desired effect

EASTON – Stonehill College’s decision to downsize is having the desired effect, the Boston Business Journal reported Tuesday.
The school reported a 4 percent decrease in net tuition revenue in the fiscal year that ended June 30. Total enrollment also fell by a similar rate. The drops were fueled by a 25 percent decline in Stonehill’s entering freshman class in the fall 2013 semester.
A year ago, the school said it was cutting enrollment after exceeding its dorm- and classroom-capacity limits of about 2,500 students.
Enrollment peaked in the fall 2012 semester when Stonehill admitted 814 freshmen, approximately one-third more than it can comfortably handle, school officials told the Boston publication.
Stonehill accepted approximately 71 percent of its applicants for the fall 2013 semester, versus 80 percent in the year-earlier period. For this year’s incoming freshmen class, the college accepted 77 percent of its applicants.
The net result: Freshmen enrollment at Stonehill fell to 610 students in the current and fall 2013 semesters, more than 200 seats less than its record recruitment class two years ago.
In the year that ended June 30, Stonehill booked $51.9 million in net tuition revenue, versus $54.2 million in the year-earlier period. The college’s total revenue for the year, including gifts and investment income, was $95.2 million, a decline of 2 percent.
The college’s endowment assets totaled $191 million as of June 30, an increase of 12 percent for the fiscal year.
Stonehill has trimmed expenses as its revenue has slipped, with its total operating budget contracting by about $600,000.

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