Concordia University Tom Ries' address focused on the affordability of higher education.

President Dan McKeown called the meeting to order at 12:30 sharp, in a rarely-used Crowne Plaza meeting room.

Jerry Faletti at the microphone and Bob Jones at the imaginary piano led the group in God Bless America, and the invocation (and reminder of the purpose of Thanksgiving) was delivered by Tom Brinsko.

Dick Zehring facilitated the introductions of one visiting Rotarian, and six guests of Rotarians, including last week’s speaker who will now be joining us as a new member.  Dan also welcomed Al Zdrazil, who is back from his six months sabbatical in New York City.

Our Nagasaki Youth Exchange student Taichi Mizuno and his host mom Linda Mulhern were the greeters. 

There were eight Rotarians who stood for the celebration of birthdays in November, and Foundations Coordinating Chair Bill Handschin reminded everyone that November is Foundations month.  In the Give to the Max day last week, we raised $4200 toward our goal of $25,000 – and President-elect Jim Kosmo reminded everyone that studies show that those who gather their resources so they can give away those resources are the happiest people.

Michael Jon-Pease promoted the Holiday Gathering coming soon – there are 64 signed up to date – we need 64 more!  Bill Foussard from White Bear Lake Rotary spoke about the Thanksgiving Meal on Wheels, and the need for delivery drivers – working 900 routes to deliver 18-19,000 Thanksgiving meals this Thursday!

Taichi then spoke for a few minutes about his home in Nagasaki, and his experiences to date in Highland Park in his Youth Exchange year.

Our new member from Concordia College, Rusty Seltz, introduced our speaker for the day.  President Tom Ries is in his third “tour of duty” at Concordia College over the past few decades, having been selected as the ninth President in the college’s 118 year history on July 1 of this year.

Tom’s address focused on the affordability of higher education.  He spoke about Concordia in general terms; this university is one of eleven in the Nation with the same name, including two in Minnesota!  It is a four year school located in the “College District” of St. Paul (our city is home to more colleges than any other city in the country except Boston.)  The college was founded and is operated by the Lutheran Church/Missouri Synod, and is one of 41 such universities in the USA.

There are 2,941 students today; in both undergrad and graduate programs.  The university has a $27 million endowment, which is quite small by higher education standards.  The current branding is “Founded in Faith . . . Priced Within Reason,” which connects directly to the September 12 announcement that Concordia University would reduce tuition for undergraduates (60% of the students are adult education or graduate students) by $10,000 annually!

This cost cutting (to $19,000) will bring Concordia close to public schools in Minnesota, and among the lowest priced private schools in the Nation.

Why?  Concordia University believes that middle class families are being priced out of higher education.  Further, they understand that with fewer students, there will be less tuition income for the universities.

How will it work?  The university will find a balance between fixed costs, and more students attending.  This can work at Concordia, because student populations had been rising, so the strategy of lowering the strain on student aid and finding balance on pricing should be sound.

ImageWhat has happened so far?  Applications for next fall are already up 30% year over year.  There is national media scrutiny and higher ed visibility.

The theory is to be proven; Concordia believes the downside risk is manageable, and the end result is expected to be good leadership . . . as one would expect in St. Paul, Minnesota.

John Andrews,
Scribe