Trends, Truths and Themes: A report by the task force on

competitive position

Being the “best of the very good” is a tough position.

Trend One: Getting students here

FY 08-09 FY 09-10 FY 10-11 FY 11-12 FY 12-13 13-14 est

-20.00%

-10.00%

0.00%

10.00%

20.00%

30.00%

40.00%

50.00%

27.50%

23.30%

28.10%

24.90%22.70%

18.00%

10.80%

6.50%

11.90%13.40%

-8.00%

44.00%

Mixed signals: Building demand and dropping yield

Yield Application % increase

TREND ONE

Trend Two: Getting students through

TREND TWO

TREND TWO

Trend Three: Getting students placed: The proliferation of external scorecards

In 2012, 18% of graduates had a job lined up – up slightly over three years.

21% had been admitted to graduate school – down by half over three years.

58% left Augie with neither a job offer nor a graduate or professional school placement

TREND THREE

Starting salary: 7th of 9Mid-career salary: 3rd of 9

TREND THREE

Truth One: We are, and will remain, dependent upon tuition

Tuition reliance

FY 08-09 FY 09-10 FY 10-11 FY 11-12 50.00%

55.00%

60.00%

65.00%

70.00%

75.00%

80.00%

85.00%

90.00%

95.00%

90.10%88.30% 87.50%

89.10%

Axis

Title

TRUTH ONE

Truth Two: Resistance to paying a substantial fraction of our

cost is rising

2004 to 2013*

• Price: $28,173 to $44,937 (+$16,764)

• Ave. EFC (demonstrated financial need**): $12,927 to $14,212 (+$1,285)

• Ave. Grant: $9,009 to $18,914 (+$9,905)

• Ave. Net Revenue: $19,164 to $26,023 (+$6,859)

*estimated

**71% of pool in 2008 and 79% of pool in 2012

TRUTH TWO

FY 08-09 FY 09-10 FY 10-11 FY 11-12 FY 12-13$5,000

$7,000

$9,000

$11,000

$13,000

$15,000

$17,000

$19,000

$16,661 $16,777

$14,771

$15,752 $15,606

$15,753

$14,997

$13,744 $13,597 $13,739

$5,656 $6,347 $6,542

$6,937 $7,205

Flat EFC, decreasing net revenue per student, and increasing “gap”

Net revenue per f-y student EFC (of those with need) Gap between aid and EFC

TRUTH TWO

Truth Three: We are experiencing more intense emphasis on outcomes

Who’s who and what’s what: The players who define our value

• Net Price Calculator (NPC)

• College Scorecard• CollegeMeasures.org

• PayScale.com• AlumniFactor.com• WSJ’s “How do

schools stack up?”

TRUTH THREE

TRUTH THREE

Truth Four: We have high fixed costs

High fixed costs

FY 08-09 FY 09-10 FY 10-11 FY 11-12 FY 12-1340.00%

45.00%

50.00%

55.00%

60.00%

65.00%

70.00%

66.60% 66.70%65.20%

64.40% 64.90%

Compensation and debt service % of operating budget

Compensation and debt service % of operating budget

There are other fixed costs not highlighted, such as the cost to maintain our physical plant and utilities, etc.

TRUTH THREE

Truth Five: Making a compelling case continues to be difficult

Illinois StateMarquette

University of IllinoisBradleyDePaul

Illinois WesleyanLoyola

Northern IllinoisUniversity of Iowa

University of Illinois-Chicago

Who are our Top 10 competitors?The Simple Version

TRUTH FIVE

For our bread-and-butter students, we compete with:

MarquetteIllinois State

University of IllinoisBradleyDePaulLoyola

University of IowaIllinois Wesleyan

Carthage University of Illinois-Chicago

For the kids who are desperately grateful to have gotten in here,

we compete with:

Illinois StateNorthern Illinois

University of Illinois-ChicagoDePaulBradley

Western IllinoisCarthageSt. Xavier

St. AmbroseElmhurst

For our best students, we compete with:

University of IllinoisMarquette

Illinois WesleyanNorthwestern

Washington Univ.Bradley

Illinois StateLoyola

University of ChicagoCarthage

Who are our Top 10 competitors?

So, the total number of Top 10 competitors for these three groups is 18.

Only Bradley, Carthage, and Illinois State are “common” competitors.

Bold: Not Top 10 CompetitorsBold red: Not Top 25 Competitors

The Real Version

TRUTH FIVE

Say “no” and focus: Strengthening our

competitive position

Purpose: Make air travel efficient and comfortable … and profitable.

Plan: Switch from “economies of scale” to “economy through innovation.”

Series of actions: Create a a lighter, faster, long-range jet, which will allow more direct flights, decreasing reliance on “hub and spoke” model. Measureable goal: Deliver more airplanes than Airbus…and more happy customers, who want more airplanes. (2013, Malham)

Boeing’s strategy

Purpose: Change the way the world gets funding.

Plan: Democratize the fund-raising process and allow people or “campaign owners” to find financial backing for just about anything.

Series of actions: Create open and accessible platform; develop powerful tools and a global reach; keep customers happy with a superior user experience, personalization and lots of hand-holding; respect and treat every funder equally.Measureable goal: Last for at least 100 years. 2013, Malham

Indiegogo’s strategy

• Attract a serious look• Create a culture of successful results and

placements• Embrace our market• Emphasize our strengths• Advance beyond traditional campus-bound and

calendar-based learning models

Themes to guide strategy to strengthen Augustana College’s competitive position

Purpose: Rethink the current price/cost model to respond to a negative perception of affordability.

Attract a serious look

Create a culture of placement

Purpose: Make post-graduation advising and planning a priority from day one to ensure Augustana College graduates achieve the best possible post-graduation results and placements in graduate school and jobs.

Embrace our marketPurpose: Compete for and enroll students who value and who have the greatest potential to benefit from the environment and experiences we can offer them.

Emphasize our strengths

Purpose: Shift the focus of families toward our distinctive strengths, to deepen those strengths and to formally recognize students’ successful engagement in trans-curricular experiences.

Advance beyond traditional methods

Purpose: Extend the reach and ambitiousness of our use of learning technologies, emerging technologies, more progressive pedagogy and alternative program structures.

Discussion