Interview: Anne Kerr, President

Anne Kerr

President Florida Southern College

How was enrollment impacted as a result of the pandemic?

While the national landscape for higher education has really been struggling to make those shifts that would allow it to move forward, Florida Southern College has been blessed. Our enrollment has been stronger than our projections. We have been very fortunate. The retention of our fabulous faculty has been strong, as has the retention of students progressing from first year through senior year. So, we have not experienced what others may have experienced in higher education. I would say, our budgeting has been challenged because we have had to make many more investments on campus to ensure the health of our students. It has all been enormously expensive — COVID test centers, adding Plexiglas in labs and classrooms for social distancing, temperature controls, air filtration systems – the list goes on and on. Since we are the kind of institution that typically emphasizes face-to-face learning, we have also invested in new technology to offer to our remote-learning students. We are proud of the fact that our students are taking the same classes and working with the same faculty as they would have been without COVID.

What programs are seeing the most demand?

I am excited to share that our business programs — at our remarkable Barney Barnett School of Business and Free Enterprise — are thriving. We see many students attending the Barnett School studying finance, marketing, management, data information systems, all of those important aspects of business. Our enrollment is strong and growing. I believe we will continue to see that trend going forward. We have also made some adjustments to the curriculum to try to help students. We have a 4+1 program, so students can complete four years of undergraduate study and then get an MBA in the fifth year. Students are paying more attention to earning two degrees by getting graduate degrees in a faster format. We have a similar program in education as well as.

As educational institutions plan a return back to the classroom, the hybrid approach to education is likely to remain a key tool for educators in a post-COVID future.

( ) Additionally, both school districts and community colleges in Tampa Bay have seen declines in enrollment. In Hillsborough County alone, around 7,000 students were “missing” as of November. St. Petersburg College faced a 9.9% drop in fall enrollment compared to 2019 figures and Hillsborough Community College faced a 16% drop. For some students, the decision regarding inperson or online classes deterred them from returning to college and others are facing family and financial challenges.

Funding Of course, a drop in enrollment has far-reaching consequences in the form of budget shortfalls. In response, some higher education institutions have been forced to re-evaluate their footprints and shed some noncore assets in a bid to generate liquidity. EY-Parthenon says there is a more flexible learning environment ahead, which could mean that universities have too much capacity for their intakes. According to the Business Journal, about half of U.S. schools reported net tuition losses in fiscal year 2020, exacerbated by a drop in endowment balances and uncertainty over the viability of welcoming international students.

Additionally, college sports hung in the balance, which accounts for substantial revenues for institutions. In fiscal 2018, the University of Florida’s revenue from sports was $143.6 million.

As the pandemic hit budgets, some institutions were also forced to let go of staff members. The Hillsborough County School District said in early 2021 that it would cut about 1,200 positions after cutting 600 in September. The district lost around 3,000 students to charter schools, home schooling or other institutions.

At the university level, Florida state issued a directive instructing all universities to cut 8.5% of their stateallocated general revenue and lottery funds budget. This meant a cut of around $36.7 million for USF, which was forced to cut support units, academic support units and staffing, travel and academic costs across its various schools.

The Tampa Bay education system, however, received a lifeline from the federal stimulus packages, the most recent of which was allocated in January. The previous administration agreed to $22.7 billion in emergency funding for universities and colleges and hundreds of smaller colleges qualified for PPP loans. There was greater flexibility on spending of the funds than in the previous funding round, allowing the institutions to offset lost revenue, offer financial aid and pay operating expenses.

By February, lobbyists announced they were seeking a further $97 billion in stimulus from President Joe Biden’s latest financial package, which would average around $27 million per school. The lobbying group, Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, said

The Hillsborough County School District lost 3,000 students to charter schools, home schooling or other institutions in 2020

its members had reported funding shortfalls of $15.1 billion since the beginning of the pandemic.

COVID recovery A glimmer of hope has also been seen in the vaccine and mass testing rollout across the state. And although universities are not widely demanding that students be vaccinated just yet, this could be a requirement in the future to return to campus. Already, Nova Southeastern is mandating that all students must be fully vaccinated before returning to classes in August. Other universities around the country are taking a hard-line stance when it comes to virus spread, with some students suspended over large gatherings. And houses of residence are opening up again, which is sure to alleviate some of the burden on university budgets. Some, such as USF, are waiving early arrival fees for students, hoping to stagger arrivals as much as possible and avoid large crowds on Grand Opening Week. USF hopes to return to its full level of in-person classes this fall, as well as continuing to offer further courses online.

In a bid to bring in new revenue, colleges and universities also are increasingly turning to nontraditional sources of revenue, including outreach to

There is a strong collaborative spirit between private and public institutions as many of them share articulation agreements streamlining the student transfer process.