Financial Fires Overtake University CFOs

Funding Available for Regionally Accredited Universities

Dear Leaders in EdTech and University Presidents/CFOs...

Uncertainty. Failed projections. A rapidly changing job market. Entrenched ideologies. Nostalgic hopes. Fear of embracing change or innovation.

Why are some institutions thriving while most are floundering? What does the future university president look like? Why are the majority of Alpha youth and Gen Z, guided by their Millennial parents, no longer viewing college as a viable life decision? Millennial parents often tell their children, "I'll be paying off this student loan debt for the rest of my life. Getting a college degree is a ripoff."

How can we maintain academic intellectual freedom without using tenure as an excuse? How is technology, especially AI, becoming a tsunami of disruptive change for every higher education institution on the planet? Like the proverbial frog in the soon-to-be-boiling pot of water, university leadership is taking an ostrich approach, trying to take just another lap around their career path, one step closer to being free of the burden of leadership in an atmosphere of change.

Today, we find ourselves working with Chief Financial Officers of universities. The majority of the academic leadership is paralyzed by a couple of age-old mental barriers like: "We've never done that before... It's not something we have created... Not sure our culture can execute on a new vision... Our board wants us to stay the same we have been for 25 years..." Most board members resist innovation. Most board members do not know that they are personally financially liable for all of the government student loan programs that go unpaid in the event an institution closes. Most board members do not actually know how dangerous the financial situation is for the institution. Most boards lack experienced financial or legal representation. Most presidents do not want to give bad news to their board. Most boards don't want to hear bad news. Most boards are like the frog in the pot.

The financial fires are spreading, threatening the very foundations of our universities. However, new models are emerging like a harvest field with sunshine and rain. Innovators who embrace these new models will win on behalf of their students and their families.

AND THEN THERE IS THE TRUMP FACTOR!

Everyone thinks Grand Canyon University was a remarkable success, now the largest private university in the world. This was achieved without donations, NO tax-deductible structure, no state subsidies, and very little initial help from regulators, who still attack it today, nor the faith-based community in the early days. Now, everyone loves success, as they say, "success has many fathers."

But think back, it was truly innovative. Nobody was teaching online. Pause and consider that. Only seven pilot licenses were granted to regionally accredited institutions to run a seven-year pilot for the Department of Education to grudgingly realize, with data, that people really can learn online. How novel. But the point is we spent the first two years trying to convince people that students actually can learn better online. That is bravery, innovation, what MKC calls, "Parlay Pivot!"

Our experienced group, which built not only Grand Canyon University (LOPE) but also created and launched the Jack Welch Management Institute, Woz Education with Steve Wozniak, the founder of Apple and inventor of the personal computer, Forbes Business School, and others under confidentiality agreements, has the money, marketing, and management expertise available now to help rescue a regionally accredited university from closure. The MKC group born from GCU provides the water hoses to quench the fires threatening your institution. Unfortunately, most boards of directors would rather close the institution, creating untold suffering for all stakeholders, than actually roll up their sleeves and work. Over and over again, I've tracked presidents who know their institutions are in trouble, so they immediately look for another job.

We have financial strategies, including money, marketing, and management, to help reset and turn around the majority of regionally accredited institutions that are suffering decline. I have personally spoken to too many leaders to count, only to find out that while one or two raise their hand stating they are "in," they eventually hit a wall and either leave, surrender to their destructive fate, or assume a low-key conciliatory, collaborative approach to getting yet one more year's paycheck as a leader. Sad.

We offer hope, encouragement, education, and empowerment powered by cash. Our financial strategies are proven to work. It just takes leadership.

If you are affiliated with a regionally accredited institution that claims innovation and is in need of financial relief, call me at 760-801-5021. Be brave. Do not fear.

Sincerely,

Michael Clifford

mkc@mclifford.com

Confidential & Proprietary

760.801.5021

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