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Chasing the Cats
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As college loan debt cripples millions of graduates and the number of schools remains quite high, it’s imperative that institutions like Saint Joe’s create compelling pitches to potential applicants. Just being “Philadelphia’s Jesuit University” isn’t enough.
Reed knows he and his staff must operate within a shifting landscape while boosting the Saint Joe’s brand in the growing shadow of NCAA darling Villanova University several miles to the west. “We have to make sure we’re not distracted by too much of that,” he says. “We’re executing our own plan.”
Those sentiments are a common refrain among many of the 30-plus local colleges and universities as they try to differentiate themselves at a vital time in the history of post-secondary education. As college loan debt cripples millions of graduates and
the number of schools remains quite high, it’s imperative that institutions like Saint Joe’s create compelling pitches to potential applicants. Just being “Philadelphia’s Jesuit University” isn’t enough—especially as
the area’s primary Augustinian university, Villanova, is soaring on a blur of national acclaim and campus expansion, successfully moving from regional to national in scope.
But expanding too broadly can lead to a crisis of scale and sustainability. “We have no desire to be all things to all people,” Reed says.
Four decades ago, many people saw Saint Joe’s as a commuter school. There are still old-school Hawks from that era for whom Villanova is a sore subject—even beyond the basketball court.
In the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, the two schools had distinct similarities. Each had its share of commuters, both were
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