🪦 The Curious Case of Goddard College: How a “Perfect” Score Led to a Perfect Shutdown 🪦

If you’ve ever wondered whether traditional financial scores for colleges are worth the spreadsheet they’re printed on… meet Goddard College.

This quaint little liberal arts college in Vermont scored a perfect 3.0 on the U.S. Department of Education’s Composite Financial Index (CFI)—a score that’s supposed to mean “financially flawless.” And yet, in April 2024, Goddard announced it was shutting its doors for good, citing declining enrollment and steep financial challenges.

So… what gives?

Turns out, the CFI is great at measuring accounting ratios but terrible at telling you if a college is going to survive. It’s like checking the oil while ignoring that the engine is on fire.

That’s why we’ve been working on something better: the Adjusted Composite Financial Index (aCFI). Our version ditches depreciation (a non-cash expense that weirdly punishes schools for owning buildings), accounts for restricted funds that can and do get used in a pinch, and factors in demographic realities like the enrollment cliff.

Because let’s face it—if a school can go belly-up with a “perfect score,” then maybe the metric is broken, not the college.

🔍 We’re not just talking theory here. We’re building data tools to help parents, students, faculty, and policymakers see which schools are stable—and which are surviving on hope and donor fumes.

💡 Curious? Explore more at universitydeathpool.com, and subscribe if you want to know which institutions are likely to thrive... or take a dive.

Sources:

📉 Bauman, D. (2024, April 10). Goddard College to close after summer term. Inside Higher Ed. Link

📊 U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). Composite scores. Federal Student Aid. Link