Growing Maryville

Many students have heard of the plans to grow Maryville University by expanding its facilities as well as growing the number of students in attendance. However, what most students at this university don’t know is how, when, why, and at what cost; most people don’t even fully understand why.

Jeff Miller, the Vice President of Enrollment, provides details on Maryville’s plans for growth and to answer many of the questions of students on campus.

Why?

Why is it that there is a need to grow the student population at Maryville? According to Miller, in order to have a sustainable financial future, most colleges set a benchmark of having an enrollment of 5,000 students. So, in order to keep tuition rates low and maintain Maryville as a stable and well-funded institution, there was a need for growth and development to attract more students to the campus.

How?

While there are plans to launch online classes starting in May of this year and to grow the graduate and undergraduate programs here at Maryville, there is more concern with the physical development of the university. There are four main projects the university will be fundraising for and working on in the next several years: renovating the Health Professions Building, expanding and improving the Simon Center, expanding the Art and Design building, and adding a new residence hall.

At what cost?

What will be the cost to students, both in the inconveniences of construction and in possible raises in tuition.  Here is the best news of all: While some renovations to the school such as updating the science labs are funded from the school’s budget, some programs to grow attendance to Maryville are not. These changes are considered to be outside the budget, meaning that all the money for these projects comes from fundraising, and that no tuition money is being used for these projects.  Expanding the campus won’t cause any change to tuition rates. However, there is only one downside to fundraising all of the money for these projects, and that is the matter of time.

When?

None of these projects will be paid for with the school’s money, meaning the fundraising must be at least mostly completed before construction can begin. That is why the completion date of these additions is only known to be “in the near future”.

In the words of Miller, “If the mega millions winner… funded Maryville we would immediately start building all four.”

So while the future may remain slightly unclear, what is certain is that Maryville will continue to grow and evolve for the betterment of the students that go there.