As we close out the fiscal year, I write to share my gratitude for the contributions across our community that helped us achieve tremendous results. We are an institution that survived the challenges of the pandemic, revived in innovative and inspiring ways, and is poised to thrive and achieve even greater things.
Our collective accomplishments are many and impressive, particularly among our most valuable assets: our people. Consider the richness and size of our faculty, the dedication and talent of our staff, and the diversity and accomplishments of our students. Babson attracts the best and brightest, who continue to enhance and elevate our community.
Learn more about Babson’s achievements at Meeting the Moment: Collective Impact.
The demand for, and the value of, a Babson education has never been greater. The market continues to validate what we are doing at Babson and recognizes that something special is happening here, as evidenced by our record-breaking applications and unprecedented philanthropic support that helps us invest in our future. Our impressive student body continues to raise the bar in quality and stature, so much that we are among the most selective schools in the country. And, with larger-than-expected enrollment, our community displayed agility and an unwavering commitment to the student experience as we moved rapidly to add resources for wellness, dining, classroom upgrades, and other student supports.
Over the past year, we have achieved significant progress toward our critical few objectives, including: advancing entrepreneurial leadership; elevating diversity, equity, and inclusion as a competitive advantage; enhancing the digital learning experience; improving the business model; and collaborating as One Babson. Our record enrollments delivered great benefit to the College. Even with a 0% increase in tuition across both schools, the tuition revenue associated with increased enrollments, coupled with disciplined management, helped fuel a positive operating margin and enabled us to reinvest in the endowment, and set aside funds for both capital expenditures and enhancements to the student experience.
Please take time to celebrate what we have collectively accomplished by visiting our Meeting the Moment: Collective Impact site. Here are just some of the College’s impressive achievements:
- Hired the largest single-year class of new faculty. Our faculty continue to raise the bar with their thought leadership in their fields, while also delivering our world-renowned education to our students.
- Experienced our largest single-year enrollment increase. Bucking industry trends, Babson enrolled a record-high 4,084 undergraduate and graduate learners this year.
- Increased underrepresented staff with 33% of all new hires being people of color, and launched the Touch Point Partner program to support their onboarding.
- Launched a new, required tech entrepreneurship course for undergraduates and a new tech entrepreneurship concentration.
- Passed the $500 million milestone in the Centennial Campaign, which is $200 million more than the campaign’s original goal when it was launched.
We succeed because of our collective efforts and appreciation that our leadership position is something we all take great pride and responsibility in protecting. Higher education remains a fragile, volatile industry, and we must remain diligent and committed in order to continue meeting the moment and seizing our opportunities. As One Babson, we will fulfill our promise to empower entrepreneurial leaders everywhere to create lasting value for themselves, their communities, and the world.
We have so much to be proud of, and there is still more work to do. We are charging full speed ahead, and I look forward to the many more great things we will achieve together.
I am especially thankful for everything you do.
Posted in Adapting, Together, Campus & Community
