Wheaton College has taken aggressive steps to right-size its staffing since the recent recession.
Craig Douglas
Managing Editor, Online Research- Boston Business Journal
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Wheaton College may not rank among the most well-known or prestigious schools in Greater Boston’s densely packed higher education community, but it is proving more decisive than most when it comes to navigating the sector’s choppy, some might say perilous, waters.
To be sure, the modest-sized private school has some exposure to the financial and demographic trends bearing down on colleges and universities throughout the United States. Wheaton is expensive, boasting a sticker price of roughly $55,000. It’s $176 million endowment is relatively small, making it highly dependent on tuition-related revenue. The college’s acceptance rate among freshman-year applicants is typically above the 50 percent threshold — a relatively low barrier to entry that further highlights its high costs when compared to the region’s more selective schools.
But what Wheaton has so far accomplished, and what many of its peers have struggled to secure, is relative stability in an age of economic and operating upheaval for the traditional college model.
Since 2008, the local school has steadily trimmed expenditures and, in particular, non-academic payroll. College spokesman Michael Graca said the cost-cutting, including an 8 percent year-over-year reduction in instruction-related expenses last year, is part of a broader strategic plan instated after the recent recession.
Graca said the operating blueprint’s primary goals — to rebalance staffing levels, boost revenue and keep expenses in check — have largely been met, although he added the school could see additional staffing reductions through attrition, as warranted. “We feel we are at the right size right now,” Graca said.
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