Are small town colleges going extinct?

0:00NPR. Hey Robert, looks like you're packing a lunch there. It is September, school is back in session and I want to make sure my kid has a healthy and informative lunch. Informative you say, wait a minute, did you tuck a copy of the beige book in there? I can see it sticking out of the lunch box. Okay, the beige book is my favorite obscure government document about the regional economies in the United States and yes, it makes for great reading in the lunch room. A sposter child can always trade it with the other kids for something more delicious. Ooh, like the monthly retail sales report or the Michigan consumer sentiment index. I mean, those are all the rage among Gen Alpha, but do they have their own award show? Hmm, it's the Beijing Awards. Are eight times a year salute to the art and science of telling stories about the economy?

1:00I'm Robert Smith. And I'm Waelin Wong. There are storms brewing in the economy right now and we will give awards to the beige book anecdotes with the most accurate forecasts. Will it be workers demanding more money or the rich wanting to pay fewer taxes? Or will it be the economic hurricane bearing down on college towns? The winners after the break. This message comes from Fixable, a podcast from Ted. Here unfiltered quality advice that will help you solve your work issues quickly from expert hosts, leadership coach Anne Morris and Harvard Business Professor Francis Frye. Find Fixable wherever you listen. This message comes from Bloomberg's News Now podcast, harnessing the power of Bloomberg's journalists and analysts so you know the latest on news, politics, foreign relations, financial markets, technology, global economics, and more. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. This message comes from the NPR Wine Club,

2:01which is generated over $1.75 million to support NPR. Whether buying a few bottles or joining the club, learn more at nprwineclub.org slash podcast. Must be 21 or older to purchase. It is always good to remind everyone how this award show works. There are 12 regional banks in the Federal Reserve System. Each one studies their local economy and brings back little stories of what they see. They publish them in the document known as the Beige Book, and we give awards to the very best stories. We always start with the runners-up. Our third place award today goes to the Dallas Fed. In the Beige Book, Dallas employers were talking about how some workers were demanding more money. The quote, Robert? One contact noted job candidates asking for San Francisco wages. Ula-la, I love that as a shorthand for a worker who wants a raise. Raise a Rony of a San Francisco treat. Put that in your lunchbox, Robert. It is delicious, but you know, you have to think what will those workers demand next?

3:03Foggy mornings, cable cars? Let them eat sourdough, I say. Meanwhile, in another rich city with high wages, the New York Fed gets our second place award. Why don't you read this one, Wailen? A contact noted that many prospective buyers of luxury properties in New York City shifted to the rental market following a proposed new tax on high value second homes. This is the so-called Pieditare tax, and this is textbook economics. When you put a tax on something, people will consume less of it. In this case, if you tax owning second homes, people will rent those homes instead. Of course, that could then drive up rents. San Francisco rents, the joke never runs. I know the jokes must end, Robert, because it is time for our big award. And this goes to a regional Fed writing about higher education. The envelope, please. And the Bayji goes to...

4:05The Boston Fed. Coming to the stage is Riley Sullivan, lead policy analyst at the Boston Fed. We spoke on September 3rd. Congratulations, Riley. Have you prepared a speech? No, unfortunately, I do not have a speech written, but I'm really honored to be back. Boston hasn't won since 2023, so we are thrilled to be receiving this award. Well, you deserved it. Before we get to your entry in the Bayji book, I have to ask a critical question. Where did you go to college? I went to Boston College. Ooh, a product of Massachusetts' famous higher education system, which, as I understand it, is an economic force in the state. You're absolutely right. That Massachusetts, as well as a lot of the other New England states, are really heavily reliant on higher education for employment relative to the rest of the country. Robert, please read Riley's winning Bayji book entry. Education contacts noted a moderate slowdown in activity,

5:08as one Massachusetts college closed recently, and another reversed expansion plans, and trimmed headcounts in response to declining enrollments. And later on the Bayji book, it says, the outlook for higher education appeared increasingly pessimistic. Oof. Now, if you've been listening to the indicator, you know about some of the challenges higher ed is facing. Demographic change means there are fewer teenagers coming down the pike, and the Trump administration has made it harder for international students to get visas. And then there's something that you've written about Riley, more interest out there in jobs that do not require a four-year degree. Yes, yes. When there are such high costs of tuition, maybe people could be earning money doing something else. Like construction jobs or transportation jobs. Yeah, those jobs, as well as ones that just require two-year degrees, or certain technical programs, plumbing, electricians, trade schools, are really oversubscribed right now, which again means less demand for traditional four-year colleges.

6:11I will say the shrinking and closing of colleges has a huge impact on small towns, which rely on these schools as the largest employer in some cases. And it's obviously horrible for the students and the teachers involved. So we wanted to check in on one school in Massachusetts that suddenly closed this year. Anna Maria College. Anna Maria College was just a little gem in rural Massachusetts, small student body, I think no more than around 1500 students. Travis Marusco was a professor and former chair of the Humanities Department at Anna Maria College before it closed this year. We had a big nursing program, fire science, business, and criminal justice. Travis says that although the school closed suddenly, there had been signs for a while. We were always struggling. We were a small liberal arts college. And you know, when I first showed up in 2008, I got the idea pretty quickly that there's not enough money. And so at first you're like, oh no.

7:11And then after about 10 years, you're like, okay, crisis is normal. Until one day this spring, the college held a meeting and told them that the fiscal situation was worse than they thought and that they wouldn't start up again in the fall. Travis, what do you think doom the college? Was it the shrinking demographics? Was it the high cost of tuition? Yes, the cost has been going up for years. I can tell you from personal experience, it's not going to the professors. All right. There was an ongoing race to outbid each other to get these students. These students don't show up for the cool professors. They show up for the coffee bar. And they show up for the new building and the new this and the new that and that all costs money. And so I think higher education got into this race to outdo each other. And then the price kept going up. You know, it's always devastating when a business closes and people lose their jobs. But there is something especially heartbreaking about a college closing. Because the first thing you're worried about are the students. Those are the people you're responsible for. And you want to make sure they land on their feet.

8:12And so you're scrambling to find them. Colleges to transfer to. Maybe your credits can go here. No there. There's all that going on. And then you also see it yourself at some point. Wait, what about me? And wait, what about all my friends? And the community that is a family who you've known and loved all these years and enjoyed going to um committee meetings as boring as they are. I always complained about committee meetings. But Doc, on it, I like those people. Travis does not plan on returning to higher education. At least not immediately. At 51 years old, he wants to start a new career as a mental health counselor, which he says maybe an easier field to get a job in. We should note that Anna Maria College is not the only one that's closing in Massachusetts this year. Hampshire College and Amherst will also shut its stores thanks to the Boston Fed for reminding us of the higher education crisis. And congratulations again Riley Sullivan. Do not wait three years before winning again. We will try to be back soon. Thank you so much.

9:14This episode was produced by Corridges an engineer by Travis Hagen with Fact Check by Ciro Hwada as an edited by Julia Richie. Kinking Cannon is our shows editor and the indicator is the production of NPR. This message comes from fixable. A podcast from Ted here unfiltered quality advice that will help you solve your work issues quickly from expert hosts leadership coach Ann Morris and Harvard Business Professor Francis Frye. Find fixable wherever you listen. This message comes from Bloomberg's News Now podcast. Harnessing the power of Bloomberg's journalists and analysts so you know the latest on news, politics, foreign relations, financial markets, technology, global economics, and more. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.