Maryland?s oldest college is losing students at an alarming rate. Nearly 8 percent of students at Washington College didn?t return this year, forcing the Eastern Shore liberal-arts school to freeze hiring for vacant staff positions to offset a loss of $1 million in tuition revenue.
Half of the 105 students who didn’t return transferred to other schools, while the other half either flunked out or took medical leave from the Chestertown college, which usually enrolls 1,400.
The school is well-known for its annual Sophie Kerr prize, the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation. A senior showing the most promise in writing can receive about $60,000.
Provost Christopher Ames said many factors could have caused this year’s lower retention rate, including the combined annual cost for tuition, fees and housing climbing 6.5 percent, to an average of $40,000.
President Baird Tipson also pointed to the cost of tuition as a possible reason for the student exodus.
“We know we are a lot more expensive than other schools,” he said. “Some families have made sacrifices and now parents may be telling their sons or daughters to transfer to a public institution.”
The larger increase was necessary to help pay for $45 million in new residence and dining halls and a renovated performing arts center, he said.
The 6.5 percent increase came after years of typical jumps of 5 percent needed to cover professors’ salaries, inflation, utilities and technology costs.
“There may have been more price sensitivity,” Ames said.
A majority of the students who left ? 63 ? decided not to return after their freshman year, dropping the freshman-to-sophomore retention rate from an average of 86 percent for the past six years to 80 percent this year.
Thirty-seven freshmen transferred to public schools or cheaper private colleges.
To offset the dip in revenue, at least 10 positions, including senior academic adviser, assistant to the provost, administrative assistants and the person who thanks donors, will be left unfilled this year.
The last time the freshman retention rate at Washington College was so low was 2000, when it dipped to 81 percent.
But the construction projects will continue as planned, Ames said.
Many friends of Tanya Borukhova, who graduated from Washington College this year, left either because they couldn’t afford to stay or because they wanted to pursue a major the school didn’t offer.
“The biggest thing is definitely the money,” Borukhova said. “Many students get scholarships, and $10,000 can go a long way. But then tuition gets to the point when it’s too much.”
