Dive Brief:
- Amid enrollment declines, financial mismanagement, facilities deterioration, and unstable leadership, Cheyney University supporters are fighting to right a sinking a ship.
- Inside Higher Ed reports that some point to the compounding effect of historical underfunding by the state system as the root of many problems, and they blame weak oversight by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education for continued financial mismanagement.
- Cheyney has no reserves and no endowment, it owes PASSHE $13 million, and it could be on the hook for $30 million in financial aid the U.S. Department of Education might demand back because the university didn’t award or track it properly.
Dive Insight:
Cheyney has an open admissions policy that means it takes some of the most disadvantaged students, many of whom might not get any higher education at all without the university. Its fairly dismal graduation and retention rates are partly explained by that. But surely many students transfer for better facilities and a higher return on investment.
Part of the problem is that Cheyney costs almost the same as higher performing schools in the PASSHE system, including West Chester University, which is only six miles away. For students who can get in elsewhere, Cheyney’s history as an HBCU isn’t enough.