July 2026 Presidential Update

July 28, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

As I have shared with you on many occasions since my arrival, aligning our financial model with current conditions has been a top priority and remains fundamental to the College’s sustainability. You have helped the College make tremendous progress toward eliminating a structural cash deficit of up to $7.5 million. As a result of many difficult decisions, the current fiscal year is projected to reduce that deficit to a cash deficit of just over $2 million. This will be the lowest operating deficit since my arrival at the College. Through further curricular innovation, thoughtful spending, and disciplined budgeting, we aim to have a balanced budget within two years, something that is clearly achievable. 

While the College’s budget has been constrained, our decisions have helped maintain financial strength. Just this summer, Forbes rated Roanoke’s financial health a B+, and last year, we participated in a rigorous Standard & Poor’s bond rating process that resulted in a BBB+ rating with a stable outlook. Maintaining these evaluations has been made possible by your steadfast commitment to stewarding our resources, especially closing our deficit. I’m also pleased to report that the College had a great fundraising year, raising $1.3M in cash above the previous year. I am sincerely grateful to you and our many supporters. 

Higher education continues to change quickly. The demographic cliff we have been talking about for years is here. Families are looking harder at the value of a college degree, artificial intelligence is changing expectations, and inflation continues to affect nearly every part of the economy. Virginia’s largest public universities are under pressure to grow. Virginia Tech is pursuing incremental undergraduate enrollment growth of 1 to 1.5 percent annually through 2029, while George Mason University has set its sights on adding 5,000 more students on campus and another 5,000 online. The message is unmistakable: As the pool of traditional-age students shrinks, competition for each student will intensify. We are not entering a calmer market.

This reality also heightens the importance of perceived value. Students and families are not responding solely to price. They are weighing cost against outcomes, debt against opportunity, and prestige against practicality. Price sensitivity is especially pronounced among lower- and middle-income students, where financial aid can determine both access and persistence. In this environment, our ability to enroll and retain students will depend not simply on what we charge, but on how well we demonstrate value, how strategically we deploy aid, and how convincingly we connect a Roanoke education to meaningful lives and meaningful work.

Even with this challenging context in mind, I believe Roanoke College’s future remains squarely in our hands. On my desk, I keep a copy of William Edward Eisenberg’s book about our first hundred years. What encourages me is that our College has a long history of adapting to serve the next generation of learners. At every turn, Roanoke has perceived generational shifts, adapted to them, and served with courage and vitality. If the last four years have taught me anything, it is that our community is in the hands of remarkable people serving inspiring students.

Program Alignment

As part of our continual adaptation and the College’s incremental effort toward a balanced budget, Academic Affairs led a comprehensive academic program analysis this summer. I am deeply grateful for the collaborative process involving school deans, assistant vice presidents in Academic Affairs, and Kathy Wolfe, senior vice president for academic life and learning, who evaluated enrollment, revenue, market demand, and other data for all the College’s academic programs. As a result of this process, the College has decided to sunset, one year from now, a small number of degree programs. Those programs are in health and physical education, French, and physics, and the concentration in German studies. Most of the 29 students currently declared in those majors are slated to graduate in May 2027, before any program changes occur. The six remaining students will be accommodated with a teach-out plan so they can also complete their intended course of study. You can learn more about these changes in our FAQ.

Due to the elimination of these programs, at the end of the 2026–2027 academic year, the contracts of five tenure-track faculty members and three contingent faculty members will not be renewed. The College will support these individuals in finding new employment opportunities. Saying goodbye to colleagues is incredibly difficult; these are wonderful educators and respected members of our community. There is no way to deny the difficulty of this choice and its impact on our colleagues.

An Entry into Clinical and Allied Health Programs

We are also committed to investing in our many thriving programs and in new high-demand areas of study. This approach is rooted in the College’s commitment to a sustainable business model and, equally important, to serving the people of our region. These two commitments are inextricably linked. 

At a special meeting of the Roanoke College Board of Trustees on July 21, the board authorized the College to establish its first School of Health Sciences and Health Innovation, an initiative that will bring clinical and allied health programs into the College’s offerings. This fall, we will launch a national search for an inaugural dean to lead this effort. Much more information about the first steps of this initiative will be shared in the near future. 

Elizabeth Campus

Finally, I also want to share that the College has entered into a currently confidential agreement that could potentially result in a partnership to develop the Elizabeth Campus. While there are many details to work through, this is an extraordinary opportunity for the College to serve more broadly while also establishing a new revenue stream.

The timing of this conversation is ideal, as the College has decided to relocate Elizabeth Campus housing back to the main campus for the 2027–2028 academic year. 

This fall, the College will engage the fraternities in discerning solutions that meet their future social and residential needs. Importantly, the Environment Center and athletic fields on the Elizabeth Campus will not be impacted by the current proposal.

Final Thoughts 

The past several years have been difficult for higher education, especially for small colleges like Roanoke. I recognize that the pace of change these days can be dizzying and even unsettling. Yet Roanoke College has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to be agile, especially to meet a moment. I am deeply grateful for your partnership, creativity, resilience and, most of all, humanity.

Sincerely and with hope,

Frank Shushok, Jr.
President