Ave Maria University has existed for 5 years... 9 years if you count Ave Maria College as the precursor to AMU. Still without full accreditation, AMU has suffered from significant faculty and staff instability [1,2,3], questionable financial practices, protests by parents and students [1,2,3], formal faculty complaints [1,2,3,4], questionable administrator credentials, high-profile firings [1,2], below-expectation Town growth, and a significant drop in enrollment [1,2]

Now, there's more bad news. AMU is poised to take another hit as Florida state legislators recently decided to reduce property taxes and freeze tuition at state-sponsored schools. Since AMU is a private tuition-driven institution, that may mean more students opting to go to less expensive state schools.

According to yesterday's Naples News, AMU "can and will raise tuition".

Even so, Ave Maria President Nick Healy said tuition increases could dissuade students from attending, thus hindering its ability to provide quality education.

Healy is quoted as saying, "Our tuition is high, so we've had to rely largely upon scholarships to attract students."

Ave Maria administrators have had 9 years to manage an academic institution, and they still have to "rely largely upon scholarships to attract students". That is not a sign of managerial success nor long-term institutional health. Students are now starting to pass-up those scholarships.

“We’ve had to adjust salaries up considerably, because of the high cost of living in Southwest Florida,” Healy said, referring to the school’s recent move from Michigan to Collier County.

According to the article, Healy also admitted that "talented professors" have turned-down jobs because their AMU salary could not compete with the price of housing in Southwest Florida.

This comes as an unexpected budgetary surprise?! Was this left unaccounted for prior to the decision to uproot to south Florida? Apparently so (maybe because a billionaire need not consider things such as whether a salary can provide for a family in a particular market). As late as March 2006, AMU advertised for a senior-level doctorally-trained full-time science faculty position for $37,000/year. Healy is just now discovering that such pittance is untenable for a family income in south Florida? Ave Maria's inability to prioritize its vast resources never ceases to amaze; administrators want a lavish oratory, an expensive dog-house for its mascot, and the Vatican choir to sing on campus - then they complain about having to adjust employee salaries to fit the place where they chose to build the University.

This is Tom Monaghan's amateurish idea of "the best place in the country to build a school".


"Southwest Florida college leaders say they share businesses' budgetary pain"
Naples News - June 27, 2007
full text

Tags: accountability