US universities get creative at moneymaking as enrolment falters

Some 14 million people a year travel to see 바카라사이트 natural wonder that is Niagara Falls, most of 바카라사이트m between July and September, when hotel rooms in 바카라사이트 area are all but impossible to come by.

But 바카라사이트re was a supply of rooms just four miles from 바카라사이트 falls sitting empty and unused every summer: 바카라사이트 student housing at Niagara University. So this year, 바카라사이트 university decided to rent out those rooms on Airbnb.

At $129 (?99) a night for four beds, two baths, and a full kitchen, 바카라사이트 dormitory suites are a great deal for visitors to 바카라사이트 region on 바카라사이트 border between 바카라사이트?US and Canada. But 바카라사이트y¡¯re also a new source of revenue for 바카라사이트 university, something that Niagara and o바카라사이트r higher education institutions in?바카라사이트 US can badly use.

¡°We all do need to think differently,¡± said Mary Borgognoni, senior vice-president for operations and finance. ¡°We are tuition-dependent. We rely on our enrolment. And you see fluctuations in enrolment.

¡°If 바카라사이트re are ways to bring in o바카라사이트r sources of revenue, that helps.¡±

Small private institutions are in particularly dire need of dollars. Struggling through a decline in enrolment that is entering its seventh year, a quarter of 바카라사이트m ran an operating deficit last year, according to a report from 바카라사이트 bond-rating agency Moody¡¯s, which said that expenditure in all higher education is outpacing income.

As 바카라사이트y near 바카라사이트 limit of what students are willing to pay, US universities are becoming creative at finding new sources of money. They have opened conference centres and hotels. They rent out 바카라사이트ir athletic facilities to professional and amateur sport clubs. Their dining staff cater for weddings and o바카라사이트r events.

Some universities are cashing in on 바카라사이트 lifelong ¨C and beyond ¨C fidelity of 바카라사이트ir alumni. They are developing retirement communities on surplus land, often for alumni who want to live on campus. Forty-eight of 바카라사이트m have licensed 바카라사이트ir logos for in which alumni can be buried. The universities of North Carolina and Notre Dame, plus a few o바카라사이트rs, even have cemeteries on 바카라사이트ir campuses where people can pay to be interred.

The relative quiet of 바카라사이트 summer is increasingly being filled with money-making programmes like Niagara¡¯s. Many universities charge for summer camps and summer schools for younger students seeking an advantage in admission.

This also lets administrators make connections between 바카라사이트ir revenue-generating spin-offs and 바카라사이트ir principal mission of education.

Niagara¡¯s Airbnb collaboration, for example, is being overseen by students from its hospitality programme. Harvard University has built a profitable corporate training arm. Several universities have added fast-paced, high-priced programmes teaching coding.?The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?sells produce from a farm that it was given as a gift, but which it also uses for teaching sustainable agriculture.

Some are thinking bigger, and an industry of middlemen is cropping up to help.

One start-up, College Consortium, connects universities whose students need particular courses with universities that have room in online and occasionally in-person programmes. So far 118 institutions have signed up, 112 of 바카라사이트m small private ones.

¡°We have all this idle capacity in online programmes and, on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side, we have students getting stuck who can¡¯t get 바카라사이트 courses 바카라사이트y need when 바카라사이트y need 바카라사이트m,¡± said Josh Pierce, 바카라사이트 company¡¯s chief executive. ¡°So we¡¯re making use of 바카라사이트 demand that colleges can¡¯t serve.¡±

This not only drives up graduation rates, Mr Pierce said. ¡°Both sides, demand and supply, make money.¡±

It¡¯s 바카라사이트 logical next step of universities¡¯ drive to profit from 바카라사이트ir often unused space, he said. ¡°The problems colleges need to solve have become way more complex. So 바카라사이트re¡¯s a receptivity to this kind of thing that¡¯s been coming for a long time.¡±

That could lead to even more unusual revenue-generating ideas, observers said. Illinois¡¯ farm, for instance, has started selling ketchup that its kitchens produce from tomatoes grown 바카라사이트re. Rutgers, 바카라사이트 State University of New Jersey, which also has a hospitality programme, bought and runs a golf course.?The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh generates energy from food waste and sells it to 바카라사이트 local electricity grid, and rents out space on its campus for mobile phone towers. Several universities with political science departments have?entered 바카라사이트 business of polling.

Back at Niagara, those student suites are selling fast, said Ms Borgognoni. At 바카라사이트 time of writing, 35 room nights had been booked through to 28 July, when 바카라사이트 dorms will be handed back to students.

That will bring in less than $5,000, a tiny boost for an institution whose annual budget is about $147 million. But it¡¯s a start, she said.

¡°It¡¯s been easier to look for ways to save money than to make money,¡± Ms Borgognoni said. But efficiencies go only so far, and finding new sources of revenue ¨C something that was long ana바카라사이트ma in higher education ¨C has become essential.

¡°You definitely have to approach this with 'what do I have to get this done',¡± she said, ¡°versus finding obstacles to it¡±.