Dive Brief:

• Clarkson University plans to transfer 16 graduate-level teaching programs to Siena College, pending approval by the New York State Education Department, the two private nonprofit institutions announced this week. Officials said they expect the move to be completed in June. 
• About 100 students are currently enrolled in the affected master’s and certificate programs, officials said. Eight full-time faculty and staff members from Clarkson will move to Siena as well.
• Tuition will remain the same for currently enrolled students, but Siena might change prices for new cohorts once the transfer is complete, said Margaret Madden, the college’s provost. No money changed hands between the two colleges in the deal. 

Dive Insight:

Officials at both institutions have said the transfer aligns with their strategic goals. For Clarkson, transferring the programs helps it retain its technological focus. For Siena, officials expect to benefit from offering graduate programs with high labor market demand.

Clarkson originally obtained the graduate education programs when it acquired Union Graduate College in 2016. At the time, Union Graduate College’s engineering and business programs complemented Clarkson’s offerings, Marc Christensen, the university's president, said in a statement. 

Now, Clarkson has decided to find a new home for the education programs at an institution interested in expanding offerings to address demand for teachers in New York state and across the country. 

“We have found that institution and it is Siena College,” Christensen said.

Siena expects its education graduate students to be in high demand in the workforce. 

Because of an anticipated increase in the number of teachers retiring over the next several years, along with other factors, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul says her state needs about 180,000 new teachers over the next decade. Hochul, a Democrat, signed a law last year intended to spur teacher recruitment. 

However, the number of students enrolled in graduate education programs across the country has been declining for several years, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center. From fall 2018 to fall 2023, the number of graduate students enrolled in education programs has fallen by about 7%, or nearly 32,000 students. 

In fall 2022, Siena enrolled 132 graduate students. That means acquiring the offerings could boost the college’s graduate enrollment by around 75% if every student in the affected programs continues their education at Siena. 

Madden said she expects enrollment to grow further in the education programs as undergraduates at Siena choose to pursue higher credentials. 

“We think the enrollment is going to be good for Siena,” Madden said. “But we also take very seriously the mission of the college to serve the community and creating teachers is a way to serve the Capitol Region and really all of New York State.”

Some institutions have turned to acquisitions to try to boost flagging enrollment. 

But that’s not the case at Siena, which has actually seen its enrollment increase over the past decade. Between 2013 and 2022, fall undergraduate enrollment increased by nearly 12%. Graduate enrollment in that time more than doubled.

Those increases in part came from adding new programs. Siena has added 23 new programs in the last decade or so. Nearly one-third of students are now in majors that were created since 2017, Madden said.