The saga of Eastern Gateway Community College continues. In an effort to preserve its accreditation, EGCC has brought in a pair of short-term consultant executives to address the lingering issues from the Higher Learning Commission’s most recent evaluation.
EGCC’s move to bring in “fixers” with significant experience in higher education highlights the awkward spot the school is in. One visiting executive is on loan from neighboring Youngstown State University. This may address the academic deficiencies that stem from the EGCC Trustees’ repeated selection of presidents from the school’s business office. Another visiting executive is a financial aid expert. Following these moves, the State of Ohio advanced the school $6M to ensure that it could cover its payroll.
You may remember that EGCC, in Steubenville, OH, found itself in hot water with both the HLC and the US Department of Education over its “Free College Benefit” program. EGCC offered it in a tangled association with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
The HLC placed the school’s accreditation in the balance for a range of reasons, including a high student to teacher ratio and financial instability. The US Department of Education determined that EGCC was surviving primarily on Pell Grant funding from FCB participants, while waiving the attendance costs for Pell-ineligible students.
Accreditation problems aren’t easy to fix
In the relatively short amount of time that the Free College Benefit program operated, it trashed EGCC’s accreditation and finances, and stripped out the college’s academic leadership. EGCC’s need for a loan from the State of Ohio to make its payroll demonstrates just how precarious the school’s current condition is.
EGCC’s situation will get worse before it gets any better. Without the Free College Benefit program, EGCC will lose much of the substantial revenue the program generated, and on which the school built its budget. And there is no guarantee that EGCC’s latest moves will satisfy the HLC’s accreditation concerns.
Although community colleges typically attempt to be “all things to everyone,” EGCC offers a cautionary tale of what happens when community colleges unwisely attempt to be all things to everyone everywhere. Community colleges don’t scale infinitely; they’re designed to serve the communities that built them and finance them.
We’ll all soon know what’s left of EGCC, and how effectively it can serve Steubenville and Youngstown after the FCB saga ends. The Ohio legislature took steps long ago to insulate the state from the financial repercussions of EGCC’s FCB strategy. Will the State of Ohio continue to support a community college that literally turned its back on its residents? (Should it?)
Other community colleges that aspire to create a national footprint should tread very carefully. Minimally, they should ensure that they recover the full cost of attendance for all out-of-district students.
Photo Credit: Graham Rendoth, via Flickr
