Conversations

Christian college enrollment, Samaritan’s Purse

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Why did Samaritan’s Purse reject federal money?

First let me say that I very much appreciate your ministry! In regard to Samaritan’s Purse declining federal money: they are indeed a massive ministry and could well be sitting on mountains of cash, however, you cannot conduct emergency efforts like they routinely do without large reserves.

For example, Samaritan’s Purse delivered emergency relief and long-term recovery support to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017.

Also in Puerto Rico, Samaritan’s Purse provided:

• Emergency Supplies:Airlifted over 50,000 pounds of cargo on a DC-8 plane, distributing 75,000 tarps, 34,000 grocery boxes, and thousands of solar lamps and hygiene kits.
• Clean Water: Provided 24,000 Sawyer water filters, 1.4 million water purification tablets, and set up water pumping systems in remote areas.
• Power & Medical: Delivered more than 1,900 generator kits to homes with critical medical needs and operated 67 free mobile medical clinics serving over 3,100 patients.
• Logistics:Conducted 756 helicopter flights to transport staff, food, and heavy equipment into isolated mountain communities.
• Ongoing Connection:Coordinates local programs and participation in Operation Christmas Child drop-off efforts through regional networks.

If I remember correctly, they were the very first relief organization on the ground after Hurricane Helene.

You cannot conduct this scale of operation in a timely manner if you do not have the funding to pull it off. Look at where they have been, like Maui after the tragic fire where they are still there building homes — long after the public and the press have moved on.

I get it, they are a big, soft target, but I wouldn’t like to get in bed with the federal government either. That could well be a poison pill.

Blessings,

James Weaver

Pastor, First Baptist Church, Cassville, Missouri

 

Warren Smith responds:

James:

I appreciate your comments, and I mostly agree with you. My only area of friendly disagreement is that SP has far, far, FAR more cash than they need to conduct the emergency services they conduct.

They send out press releases every time their DC-8 makes a relief flight, but they have the resources to make 10 such flights for every one they actually make.

And they spent $100 million on fundraising last year. ONE HUNDRED MILLION on fundraising. While they had more than ONE BILLION DOLLARS in the bank, and nearly TWO AND A HALF BILLION DOLLARS IN TOTAL ASSETS.

I love SP in many ways. About 10 years ago I went with SP to Liberia to see their work there. We flew there on the DC-8 they write so much about.

I am not insensitive to the fact that they do things no one else can do. But that’s part of my frustration: given the resources they have, and the resources they can generate, they could (and should) be doing FAR, FAR, FAR more than they are.

All best,

Warren

 

Enrollment growth can be misleading at Christian colleges

I read with great interest your piece on Christian higher education. It was thoughtful and provided an effective baseline analysis for understanding the enrollment patterns of Christian Colleges — which could be extended to most private institutions.

I have served as president of George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon, for the past 20 years. The question of whether a university is “growing” is complex as you note. The entire pricing system of universities is hardly understandable to people outside those institutions.

You are right to “call out” enrollment complexity. Certainly, mega-universities like Liberty and Grand Canyon University skew all the enrollment numbers related to Christian higher education. Most Christian institutions are primarily undergraduate, regional, lack any large-scale online programs, and have total enrollments under 1,500.

In recent years, universities have started to report dual-enrollment high school numbers as part of their overall enrollment picture. This often adds 1,000 or more students to the total but contributes very little to revenue. For example, we have 800 dual-enrollment students, but they only pay $100 for the course. Quite a bit of the large-scale growth is due to numbers like this.

As you probably know, an institution can report enrollment “growth” while still running operational deficits. The most important number to examine is “net-revenue” growth — does the institution see a net growth in revenue as a direct result of new students?

On the undergraduate side of the “house” in the Northwest, private institutions, on average, are offering discounts in excess of 60%.  There are a few institutions that have now crossed 70%. Thus, they may increase overall numbers (which actually isn’t the case in the Northwest) while generating less revenue on average than the year before.

Robin Baker

President, George Fox University

 

Critique of Samaritan’s Purse ‘spot on’

I think your critique of Samaritan’s Purse is spot on. They have also delved into partisan politics, something the Rev. Billy Graham avoided. Keep up the good work!

William Price 

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