Hartford Business Journal

8 Hartford Business Journal • August 24, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com A fter a merger deal with Vermont's Marlboro College fell through last year, the financially troubled University of Bridgeport was on the hunt for a much-needed partner. Rather than one interested insti- tution, UB President Stephen Healey found three. Under a memorandum of under- standing signed in June, Goodwin University of East Hartford, Ham- den-based Paier College of Art, and Sacred Heart University in Fairfield agreed to co-locate programs on UB's campus and purchase all of the school's property and programs. They also agreed to honor credits students earn at each other's schools. College presidents participating in the partnership say they see op- portunity in a new urban location that gives them the ability to cost share and make more courses avail- able to students. The partnership still requires numerous approvals from accredi- tors, which could take more than a year, but if and when it is greenlit, the University of Bridgeport brand will go away, Healey said. "I think what you get here is fairly unique," he said. "It's not exactly a con- sortium, but it's a university park." The partnership comes at an especially precarious time for higher education institutions in New Eng- land, with more than half of them experiencing declining enrollment between 2008 and 2018, according to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. There are 71 financially vulnerable New England colleges, the study concluded, because they have both declining enrollment and meager endowments. In its most recently avail- able financial disclosure, the University of Bridgeport post- ed an $8.7-mil- lion loss in fiscal 2018, while Goodwin and Sacred Heart posted surpluses of $16.2 million and $41.4 million, respectively, according to National Center for Education Statistics. The higher-ed industry has been given a negative outlook rating in each of the last three years, said Jessica Wood, director of the education sector at ratings agency Standard & Poor's. COVID-19 has only added to the industry's financial challenges, forcing colleges to close campuses last spring, costing them tens of millions of dol- lars in lost revenue from housing, dining and other services. Institutions likely won't be able to recoup all that money this fall, as most will allow fewer students to live on-campus in an effort to maintain social distancing. Most schools are currently looking for cost-savings opportunities, and agreements between institutions to honor each others' credits are nothing new, Wood said. But having three separate institutions physi- cally locate programs on the same campus to share facilities, costs and credits is different. And other schools will be watching to see how it goes. "In the current environment, and [even] pre-COVID, schools have been looking for ways to think creative- ly from a revenue standpoint," Wood said. Economies of scale The financial terms of the deal between Goodwin, Paier, Sacred Heart and UB have not been released, and all parties signed a nondisclosure agree- ment, but Goodwin University bought up the lion's share of the programs and property, with the rest split between Paier and Sacred Heart, according to Goodwin President Mark Scheinberg. Sacred Heart bought three build- ings and UB's postgraduate educa- tion and engineering programs, along with its chiropractic and nutrition certificate programs. Paier, a 74-year-old Hamden for- profit art school with a fall, 2018 en- rollment of 83 students, will buy five academic programs in the design and communications areas. Scheinberg, a main driver behind 'University Park' Unique college co-location deal in CT could serve as national model Goodwin University President Mark Scheinberg sees a new credit and cost-sharing partnership between several in-state higher- ed institutions as a wave of the future. FOCUS: EDUCATION A glance at the co-locating colleges Goodwin University Students enrolled: 3,397* Annual revenue: $82,057,000** Change in net assets: $16.2M Endowment value: $10.7M Paier College of Art Students enrolled: 83* Annual revenue: $989,875** Change in net assets: $110,530 loss Sacred Heart University Students enrolled: 8,958* Annual revenue: $262.3M** Change in net assets: $41.4M Endowment value: $167.4M University of Bridgeport Students enrolled: 5,485* Annual revenue: $98M** Change in net assets: $8.7M loss Endowment value: $34 million *All enrollment numbers as of fall, 2018. ** All revenue, change in assets and endow- ment values as of fiscal 2018. Source: National Center for Education Statistics Stephen Healey, President, University of Bridgeport Jessica Wood, Director of the Education Sector, Standard & Poor's. HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER

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