The College of Wooster is cutting 22 staff in response to shrinking enrollment, the college's president said in a letter last week.
The moves are part of a series of "reorganizations, staffing consolidations and reductions" across the small private college's administrative offices, affecting 18 full-time and four-part time staff, according to President Anne McCall's Feb. 6 letter.
"These actions were based on financial realities and made with the support of the Board of Trustees to help return the College to a balanced budget in an era of smaller incoming classes," McCall wrote. "They in no way reflect on the performance or dedication of the people who have left the College."
No faculty was laid off, and the majority of layoffs were "non-student-facing roles," the college said in a follow-up statement Monday.
The College of Wooster has "more than 1,600 students" on campus this school year, which is down from 2,033 students in 2011-2012, according to data from its website. Colleges and universities across the country have seen enrollment shrink significantly over the last decade and a half as birth rates have declined and potential students have questioned the value of a degree. Enrollment has begun to stabilize over the last two years, however.
"The College of Wooster continues to attract excellent students, as we have throughout our history. At the same time, we 鈥� like our higher education peers 鈥� have seen challenges in revenue and enrollment over the past few years due to a lower number of students graduating high school and fewer of them choosing college," the college said in a follow-up statement Monday. "... there are also fewer international students enrolling. Meanwhile, the expenses associated with running a college have grown."
The private college charges $79,560 annually for tuition, room and board, according to its website. Its endowment is still "strong," officials said in the statement. The market value of the endowment was .
"In all decisions our top priority is to preserve the core of Wooster's academic experience, including our nationally ranked Independent Study program, our academic programs, our students鈥� residential experience, and the programs that allow them to develop in multiple ways outside of the classroom," the college's statement reads. "By taking steps now to more closely align our staffing with the size of our student body, we are shaping Wooster to provide an outstanding education for generations to come."
