A financial audit for Mary Baldwin University in Staunton shows the school operated at a $3.9 million loss in 2024, down from a loss of $7.3 million one year earlier.
The university, which also includes the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences in Fishersville, is also saddled with $18.8 million in debt, with loans secured by a deed of trust and real property.
An email sent to alumni and friends from the university last month addressed the debt, which has the school making approximately $1.7 million annually in debt-service payments.
“These obligations limit our ability to reinvest in our academic programs, facilities and innovation. Much of our Staunton and Fishersville campuses are pledged as security against our debt, which constrains our ability to reshape our physical footprint and leverage these assets if needed,” the email from Todd Telemeco, president of MBU, read.
The former MBU president, Jeff Stein, announced his abrupt resignation just two weeks into 2025-2026 school year; the reasons for his departure are unknown. Telemeco was quickly named his successor.
Telemeco wrote to alums that MBU is committed to addressing challenges head on, with transparency.
“There will be difficult decisions and moments of change ahead,” the email said. “We have a clear sense of where we are and where we most go,” he wrote.
“Mary Baldwin is in an enviable position compared to many small colleges because of our thriving health sciences programs, established online presence and resilient community.”
The Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences includes the schools of health professions and nursing and is located just one mile from Augusta Health.
Many alums, some who took part in a protest this afternoon, believe that the endgame has MBU closing its residential program and shuttering the Staunton campus altogether.
Among the concerns of alums, professors and community members is that decisions about Mary Baldwin’s future are being made by people they see as outsiders, three individuals whose primary residences are not in the Valley.
AFP did ask MBU to address the issue of residency for the president, CFO and we’re told future provost, but has not heard back from a spokesperson on the matter.
While Telemeco did try to set the stage for changes, the university community was outraged when a vote from the Board of Trustees discontinued 17 academic minors leading to the dismissal of a handful of well-respected professors.
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While upsetting, this decision may be minuscule compared to what many predict is looming down the road for MBU.
One year ago, AFP wrote about significant cost-cutting measures under way at MBU, including selling property, eliminating staff, reducing employee benefits and offering fewer academic majors to incoming students.
Professors, alums offer alternative to shutting down Staunton campus
Former students are convinced that the Board of Trustees and campus leadership are dead set on closing the residential college in Downtown Staunton while preserving online classes and the Fishersville campus.
Vice President of Integrated Communication Liesel Nowak acknowledged the strengths – online programs and Murphy Deming – and weaknesses of MBU today.
As the audit showed, she said, “the residential environment carries a fundamentally different cost structure, including a high discount rate and aging facilities.”
The financial statement for the fiscal year ending June 30 showed financial aid from MBU accounts for 64.5 percent of the residential college’s tuition and fees, a slight rise over 2023. On the flip side, there is almost no financial aid provided for its online and adult programs and the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences.
Nowak said the Board of Trustees is “actively engaged in long-term planning,” but she cannot comment on speculation about the Staunton campus until decisions are final.
“I understand the anxiety people are feeling,” Nowak told AFP. “When there is concrete information to share, we will communicate transparently with our students, faculty, staff, alumni and community partners.
“We’ve been clear that business as usual – lower enrollment, higher discount rate and lower net tuition rate – is not sustainable. Over the past several years, we’ve taken steps, from academic program review to operational restructuring, to strengthen the institution for the long term, but we have fallen short.”
Mary Baldwin isn’t alone in its struggles, Nowak said. Other small colleges are facing similar shifts with questions about the return on investment of obtaining a degree. Also, she noted, many schools are evaluating the cost of operating historic residential campuses.
“Our work right now is to make sure the entire university is positioned on solid, long-term footing, and that means looking closely at student demand, financial sustainability and what today’s learners need from us.
“We remain committed to serving students in Staunton, Fishersville, and online, and our goal is to ensure Mary Baldwin is strong for many years to come.”
Alumni are organizing now hoping to put the kibosh on any other big changes planned at MBU, upset that decisions are being made by what they say are “unqualified and tone-deaf leaders.”
Professors and alums put together their own plan for an academy/cohort model for MBU that preserves the historic quadrangle of the Staunton campus. AFP was told that the plan was shared with the university’s president and select members of the Board of Trustees.
The university community wants to be involved in the decision-making of the future of MBU and doesn’t want final decisions being made before alums, professors and stakeholders have the opportunity to offer input.
“I can only hope our efforts are successful in saving the MBU we love,” an anonymous faculty member said in a document shared with AFP.
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- Staunton | Mary Baldwin faculty voice concerns with vote of no confidence in Board of Trustees
- Mary Baldwin University president resigns: Jeff Stein had been on the job just two years
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Crystal Graham
