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| Edsel quickly became a joke. |
Some of us saw the shrinking of higher education coming long ago. One cause was the student loan program, which made it easy to earn a degree, creating more supply than demand.
Universities and colleges were able to expand - in population, buildings, and programs - because of the money flowing in from the loan programs. Schools could get even fancier with alumni gifts. Endowments did not ease the burden of tuition costs, so some suggest that the richest schools have become trust funds with a campus, kids, and profs serving as a side venture.
Denominations started with schools dedicated to teaching their children in specific areas. My mother took 10 years to finish her bachelor's degree at Augustana College, taking night school to earn a MA in education.
ELCA went completely woke at its 2009 convention, when the rules were reversed for pastors. The failing seminaries in ELCA were scaled down so they could maintain some dignity in the midst of reducing everything.
Mergers became popular - or a necessity. WELS combined Dr. Martin Luther College with Northwestern College to become Martin Luther College School of Ministry. All the women at MLC are ministers now - didn't see that coming?
ELCA turned Gettysburg and Philadelphia into United Lutheran Seminary, but their new lady president was not woke enough for them.
The next decade will have many colleges, seminaries, and universities sheltering in place, trying to keep their budgets in the black, their faculties passive, and their alumni wealthy.
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| Oh noes! |
