WHEELOCK WEIGHS BU BAILOUT

Under pressure, college enters merger discussion

Wheelock College, hampered by declining enrollment, is exploring a merger with Boston University, a reflection of mounting financial pressures on smaller liberal arts col- leges.

The schools, which are less than a mile apart, announced in a joint statement yesterday they’ve agreed to enter into formal merger discussions.

“Over the upcoming weeks the leadership of Boston University and Wheelock College will be working with our faculties and our academic and administrative leaders to shape the vision of our merged academic units and services,” the statement reads. “We believe the merger will enhance Boston University’s programs, as well as preserve the mission of Wheelock College to improve the lives of children and families.”

The statement noted that the talks come at a time when small private colleges are being pressured by declining enrollment, tightening budgets and increasing tuition costs.

Wheelock expects to have 630 undergraduates this year, down from 729 in 2016, 822 in 2015, and 857 in 2014.

Smaller private colleges have had to shell out more and more financial aid to attract a diverse pool of students in recent years, as tuition increases reach a tipping point, said Rick Staisloff, principal at rpk GROUP, which studies business model development in higher education.

“Higher education has been under pressure for a long time, and in most other industries we would have already seen a lot of this kind of shared-services, merger activity happening,” Staisloff said. “I think there are going to be more and more institutions that decide that it’s in their best interest to be looking at these kinds of moves, before they have to.”

Staisloff added most colleges are “working under a very traditional business model, and have not put the time and energy into figuring out how to deliver high-quality education to their students at a lower cost.”

The BU-Wheelock talks come after the Boston Conservatory and Berklee College of Music finalized a merger in June.

Wheelock — which focuses on education, social work, and arts and sciences — enrolls about 1,000 undergraduate and graduate students, housing many of them on its campus.

BU has approximately 33,000 undergraduate and graduate students and is composed of 17 schools and colleges, including education and social work.

STAFF FILE PHOTO BY PATRICK WHITTEMORE SCHOOL CHOICE: Boston University, shown, is holding formal merger talks with Wheelock College, which has been hurt by falling enrollment.