During a State of the College address last week, President Steven Bahls discussed the decline of liberal arts colleges in America and his plan to keep Augustana from struggling.
Bahls said he expects the number of liberal arts colleges to decrease from 140 to 100 in the next five years.
“The smart money says we need to be more online,” said Bahls. “We need to add graduate programs. We need to add programs like police science and criminology, and we are striking out on our own. We are saying no.”
Still, Bahls went on to say that the college needs to keep up with students in this technologically focused age.
Bahls also addressed that tuition will, with current trends, pass the $50,000 threshold in as soon as a year.
“At some point, it gets a little ridiculous, in a sense. Our tuition discount is well in excess of 50 percent for our incoming students, and it is not sustainable,” said Bahls.
He has asked Kent Barnds, vice president of enrollment, communication and planning, and David English, the college’s chief financial officer, to lead a session about changing the pricing model with the Augustana community. Bahls also stated that the college’s Board of Trustees will be discussing the issue.
Even with the current pricing model, Bahls noted that the first-year class has the potential to be the second largest class, with about 730 members. The largest applicant pool was the class of 2014.
The first-year class is composed of over 25 percent multicultural students, the largest percentage to date, and 5 percent of the class is composed of international students.
The number will be finalized after the federally mandated 10 days, and a report will be available in the next few weeks.  He also stated that this was the largest amount of financial aid granted to a class, with almost $50 million granted to students overall.
Bahls said that one reason for a larger class year is that the administration expected about 25 percent of the low-income, high achieving students to accept their financial aid package, and approximately 32 percent of them did.
He warned faculty members that there is a higher risk of retention if you’re a lower-income student or a first-generation college student
“When Mom and Dad go to college, and you hit that first bump, you call Mom and Dad, and they know everyone hits that first bump,” said Bahls. “If Mom and Dad didn’t go to college, there’s less certainty.”
In addition to admissions, Bahls discussed how the college hung banners celebrating diversity in reaction to the racial incidents that occurred last year.
“I think it’s urgent that we help our students understand differences. People who are not successful in the workplace…very often it’s not an appreciation for difference,” said Bahls.
Bahls also addressed renovating Westerlin, Bergendoff and the College Center.
The Westerlin project will cost $10 million and will maintain the communal bathroom structure.
The administration is also looking into converting the College Center dining room into a two-story theater and then renovating the music department in Bergendoff either next summer or the following summer.
“We have to raise 6 or 7 million dollars to get the theater and music project done, so it’s going to take some time,” said Bahls.