Webster University (St. Louis, MO) was the focal point in a late January 2023 story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The essence of the story is that the college is in financial trouble. It is unlikely to close, but it will almost certainly face a need for lowering its cost base. This podcast addresses the specific issues at Webster only in the context that their response is similar to almost all private colleges with similar financial distress - and it wont' work.

New programs, degrees, etc only guarantee new start-up costs. With the competition doing the same thing, Webster and all of the other colleges have no guarantees of adding any materially significant new net revenue.

The intense pressure private colleges face on tuition discounting will extend to new programs they begin. The Webster leader's focus on public grants are not  ...