Small Colleges Find New Revenue Streams Close to Home

For small colleges, the search for diversified income streams can seem intimidating, threatening to take administrators out of their traditional academic comfort zones and into the worlds of finance, real estate, and commerce. But not all of the options are far afield.

Richard Ekman, president of the Council of Independent Colleges, notes that some institutions welcome professional sports teams for preseason training camps, generating both income and publicity for the colleges. The Buffalo Bills, for instance, practice at St. John Fisher College, while the Carolina Panthers train at Wofford College. But there aren’t enough pro teams to make that an option for every institution.

A Better Use of Space

Antioch College and other small institutions rethink their real estate to generate revenue

• Opening Gyms to the Public Can Make Money and Build Community Ties
• A Better Use of Space

Many colleges in recent years tried adding evening and weekend programs for working adults — who are typically less expensive to serve than traditional-age students — until the market became saturated. That’s led some colleges to try marketing online courses instead, or in addition to their in-person programs.

“They get an idea and run with it as long as they can, and then they’re fully prepared to move on to something else,” Mr. Ekman says. “You’re no longer educating for the ages. You’re constantly shifting to meet what you see are changing demands.”

And sometimes looking closer to home can pay off. Austin College, in Sherman, Tex., realized nearly a decade ago that it was missing out on a big chunk of student-housing income because it had too few on-campus beds to accommodate all of its students. Trustees with experience in financing property deals put together a package that allowed the college to build both a residence hall for underclassmen and duplexes for seniors — and to collect about $500,000 more annually in room revenue than it had previously.

Lawrence Biemiller writes about a variety of usual and unusual higher-education topics. Reach him at lawrence.biemiller@chronicle.com.