William Jewell College says its financial crisis is over after 18 months of work

LIBERTY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Fernanda Silva covers stories in the Northland, including Liberty. She also focuses on issues surrounding immigration. Share your story idea with Fernanda.

—

Leaders at William Jewell College in Liberty told KSHB 41 Liberty reporter Fernanda Silva on Friday the college exited a financial crisis after 18 months of sweeping changes that cut programs, added graduate degrees and more than doubled enrollment.

The college faced a financial emergency in December 2024.

Since then, administrators say they have reduced the college's deficit, overhauled governance and grown total enrollment from roughly 930 students to more than 1,800.

"When we looked at the numbers, we knew that if we didn't change, there was going to be a short timeline," Eric Blair, vice president of marketing and enrollment, said.

The college set a goal of cutting $7 million in expenses ahead of the 2025-26 school year. Blair said years of deficit spending — not just one financial event — forced the institution to act.

KSHB 41/William Shaw

"It was many years in finally addressing a long-term business model that needed to change," Blair said.

College officials laid off staff, eliminated some academic programs and restructured others. They also invested in new programs.

They reorganized into two distinct colleges: the College of Arts and Sciences, focused on undergraduate programs, and the College of Graduate and Innovative Programs.

"That doubling has come through our graduate programs," Blair said.

The college also created pathways for high school students, including the Collegiate Nursing Academy, a Certified Nursing Assistant pathway and a CIPHER Cybersecurity Certificate program.

KSHB 41/William Shaw

Elmir Selman, a Liberty High School senior who took part in one of the programs, said the experience shaped his future plans.

"It helped me figure out what I wanted to do in the future," Selman said. "It gives me a lot of real world experience that I can take elsewhere."

Spencer Clark, a freshman at William Jewell College, said he benefited from the changes.

"I think it's great. I'm definitely lucky to receive the good end of it," Clark said.

KSHB 41/William Shaw

Liberty City Councilman Kevin Graham, a William Jewell alumnus, said the 2024 financial emergency was alarming for those connected to the college.

"Super concerning," Graham said. "You know, absolutely concerning. We tried to find out what we could do and see how we could help. It's been a process."

Graham said the college and the city of Liberty have always been closely linked.

"The history between the city and the college, it goes back forever," Graham said. "They are completely intertwined. We really think that the college makes the city much, much stronger and we hope, vice versa," Graham said.

KSHB 41/William Shaw

He acknowledged the restructuring came with difficult decisions.

"It's certainly painful," Graham said. "I'm sure there are lots of individual decisions that you could argue with, but I understand why they did it," Graham said.

Blair said the college now has better financial controls in place and is focused on keeping the deficit manageable.

"We've gotten our deficit into a controllable place" Blair said. "We've got our expenses under control. We have significantly better governance from the board level to our internal accounting measures."

When asked how the college plans to prevent another financial crisis, Blair pointed to structure and community support.

"Discipline," he said. "The new systems we've put in place and maintaining them," Blair said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy

—