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Housing options as schools close


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No less than a series of talks at Harvard Business School, reports by the US Dept. of Education, speculative research by Moody's Investors and Forbes, and discussions in the Journal of Higher Education and Inside Higher Education during the past two years project that half of American colleges/universities will be bankrupt in the next decade with a third of them closing outright. Investment guru Ric Edelman spent a significant portion of his recent weekly talk on CBS noting the number of colleges now advertising for merging institutional partners and lamenting the reality that online learning, the ever plummeting US birthrate, and the higher costs of insurance, maintenance, and staff benefits have trickled the number of US institutions down from about 6000 schools to the present 4000 or so.(Citations, not the corps from Massachusetts, will be listed at the bottom of the post.) Yes, a great portion of those who have closed this century are smaller and/or religious-affiliated enterprises particularly in the Northeast and Midwest; but not all, and US birthrate drops seem to be felt nationally. The shifts in college demographics would presumably be also a concern for present and future high school demographics regionally and nationally. Even as education and labor needs shift from liberal arts to technology to life crafts, the matter is of concern about mms older than a junior hi education.

Questions arise (does Greater Boston and city really need 52 different institutions of post-high school learning?) especially relating to DCI corps now and in the near future. Let me raise some of these questions and issues and invite you to add others, both questions and considerations. Some will presume this to be a Chicken Little/the Sky is Falling thread. Others will prefer to be ostriches with their heads in the sands. But fore-warned is fore-armed. A word to the wise, etc., etc. etc.  What's your observation and wisdom?

Some say that DCI mms by almost half are music majors (education and performance.) But where are the jobs for them to eke their livelihood?  In those "inspirational" talks DCI instructors and directors give to the corps at camps, rehearsals, in the lot and post-shows, are we educating members for real life or presenting fools' dreams when one has to face age-out reality?

Will DCI corps continue to be able to draw the best, the motivated, the diligent or be reduced to be an activity for the rich and pampered?

If mms don't have the surety that their college will be viable until after one obtain's a degree and might close or go bankrupt before one graduates, will mms still be available during summer semesters or be saving their money and credits for other possibilities?

DCI tours are shifting with small shows being replaced by events in larger population centers.  As the DCI corps have grown by size, they require larger facilities to house and practice mms. City schools are usually confined and not always the best for housing or rehearsals. Smaller colleges have often been an option. But what other options will be needed if the smaller schools are closing and housing grows further from venues, thus increasing transportation costs? (Not every school is a Texas mega-plant.)

Events such as Indy Championships and the shifting school year have moved corps into hotel rentals (costly) and limited practice possibilities (competitively costly.) Scandals magnified by the media have raised doubts in many educators minds whether to allow their high school campus to be available to drum corps.  Where will corps house and practice? How much will corps costs and budgets soar as they themselves face possible bankruptcies and stiff financial development?

 

Some pertinent citations should you wish to investigate further:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/15/hbs-professor-half-of-us-colleges-will-be-bankrupt-in-10-to-15-years.html

https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelhorn/2018/12/13/will-half-of-all-colleges-really-close-in-the-next-decade/#5c2ae40352e5

https://www.edelmanfinancialengines.com/radio

https://www.forbes.com/sites/ebauer/2018/09/26/will-the-fertility-rate-recover-probably-not-a-new-study-says/#370cac312268

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/11/13/spate-recent-college-closures-has-some-seeing-long-predicted-consolidation-taking

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/05/17/birth-rate-u-s-drops-fertility-millennials-immigrants/618422002/

https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/04/28/clay-christensen-sticks-predictions-massive-college-closures

Edited by xandandl
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Across the United States there are 26,407 public secondary schools and 10,693 private secondary schools

For a total of  37,100 secondary school with a variety of gyms and athletic fields/facilities

With about 60 touring corps I'm pretty sure we'll be ok in the short term from a numbers perspective 

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i'd be more worried about the other issues facing the activity being a factor in housing

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This intrigues me - the idea that MMs do drum corps to build a resume in the hopes of helping get future employment. I think I got that out of X’s post. If that’s not what you were saying then never mind. 

But if that’s the case, should that be a valid reason to march?  Versus “love of the activity” with no expectations of anything else. Suggesting that doing drum corps could help land a job seems a little distasteful to me. 

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21 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

This intrigues me - the idea that MMs do drum corps to build a resume in the hopes of helping get future employment. I think I got that out of X’s post. If that’s not what you were saying then never mind. 

But if that’s the case, should that be a valid reason to march?  Versus “love of the activity” with no expectations of anything else. Suggesting that doing drum corps could help land a job seems a little distasteful to me. 

Is it any different from students doing work study at a business?  Hell I started drum corps because I wanted to keep playing a horn post high school. Kept thinking all the private lesson $$$$ down the toilet. Didn’t see a corps show until  8 months later. 

Edited by JimF-LowBari
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44 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Is it any different from students doing work study at a business?  Hell I started drum corps because I wanted to keep playing a horn post high school. Kept thinking all the private lesson $$$$ down the toilet. Didn’t see a corps show until  8 months later. 

 I think it’s different. At a work study as you call it, or internship, you get paid. So that’s one big difference from drum corps. Aside - if it’s an unpaid internship....don’t do it!  Another difference is the direct tie to a possible future job at that company where you are interning. Versus a drum corps where you’re not thinking of a future paying job with that drum corps. So it did seem quite different to me, although I am a bit ignorant regarding the world of music majors and job hunting. 

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27 minutes ago, HockeyDad said:

 I think it’s different. At a work study as you call it, or internship, you get paid. So that’s one big difference from drum corps. Aside - if it’s an unpaid internship....don’t do it!  Another difference is the direct tie to a possible future job at that company where you are interning. Versus a drum corps where you’re not thinking of a future paying job with that drum corps. So it did seem quite different to me, although I am a bit ignorant regarding the world of music majors and job hunting. 

LOTS of internships are not paid. Sometimes the student pays tuition to the college and then performs the internship as part of their major, so paying for the privilege is hardly unknown.  

I'm not sure how many these days do drum corps JUST for the resume credit though. It can actually be a drawback in some scholastic situations, based on perceptions of hiring managers in music ed who may not be big fans of drum corps.

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1 hour ago, HockeyDad said:

This intrigues me - the idea that MMs do drum corps to build a resume in the hopes of helping get future employment. I think I got that out of X’s post. If that’s not what you were saying then never mind. 

But if that’s the case, should that be a valid reason to march?  Versus “love of the activity” with no expectations of anything else. Suggesting that doing drum corps could help land a job seems a little distasteful to me. 

I know two schools that were looking for a band director that wanted drum corps experience

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