Why would an ailing university borrow tens of millions of dollars for new buildings right near a shrinking city that is one of America’s most dangerous — St. Louis? A 2022 study ranked St. Louis the most dangerous city in America.
At the India Times noted, “A severe crime rate, a high assault rate, and other factors contribute to St. Louis’s rank as the most dangerous US city. A new study ranks St. Louis as the most dangerous city in the US. St. Louis was ranked as such due to the high rate of crime, … car accidents, and natural disasters. According to a WalletHub report comparison of safety levels of about 182 US cities, St. Louis came up at the last rank.”
The St. Louis metropolitan area also has a declining population and a lower-than-average per capita income.
Yet, that didn’t stop Webster University from borrowing large amounts of money for new buildings even as its enrollment declined. Now, it is experiencing annual losses of $25 million. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports:
For nearly a decade, Webster University has seen enrollment decline by thousands of students and debt rise by the tens of millions of dollars.
The private college, located at Big Bend Boulevard and Edgar Road, faces a precarious future, one that analysts have little faith will improve any time soon, as annual losses reach $25 million.
And Webster’s bet on pivoting from being an arts-focused institution to one catering to business, technology and health sciences — leading it to take out over $60 million in bonds to construct new high-tech buildings at its main campus here — has yet to pay off.
School leaders say they have a turnaround strategy, largely focused on attracting more international and online students, that is showing signs of working.
“I have always been optimistic and positive about Webster’s mission and vision and our ability to adapt to often challenging circumstances,” Chancellor Beth Stroble said. “We are clearly doing what we need to do to ensure that optimism is rewarded with results.”
The more than century-old university is one of the St. Louis region’s most prominent; its alumni have gone on to become Tony Award nominees and esteemed musicians. Now, as Webster University has further branched into online courses, it offers degrees and certificate programs in everything from cyber security to gerontology to teaching English as a second language to piano performance.
Stroble has led Webster’s building boom over the past decade, when it opened a new $44 million health sciences building, $28 million business school building and $12 million parking garage at its main campus here.
