SPH Consulting Group: In The News

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SPH Consulting Group consultants are frequently in the news for their expertise on higher education strategies, mergers, transitions, and more. For more from our experts, visit our Blog.
April 19, 2024
Waiting too long can doom a college merger, experts say
By Ben Unglesbee, Higher Ed Dive.
April 16, 2024
Financially-distressed NJCU needs a partner. But which university can afford to take on the school?
By Joshua Rosario, NJ.com.
March 14, 2024
For This Small College, a Merger Was a Lifeline. Now It’s the Focus of Suspicion.
By David Jesse, The Chronicle of Higher Education.
February 29, 2024
How can governors oversee successful higher education mergers?

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

January 30, 2024
How many people actually need a four-year diploma?

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

December 4, 2023
Labor Department’s overtime proposal should spur more colleges to consider a merger

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

October 27, 2023
College officials considering mergers need to have sufficient resources

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

October 25, 2023
Dr. Ricardo Azziz discusses the impact of the new ED Rules on College Mergers (podcast)
By Gary Stocker, This Week College Viability.
September 29, 2023
What qualities do college leaders need to lead major institutional restructuring?

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

September 1, 2023
An Enrollment Spike at Asbury University
By Sarah Weissman, Inside Higher Ed.
September 1, 2023
Praying for a Merger Miracle
By Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed.
August 29, 2023
Why Has It Been So Hard for the U. of Phoenix to Find a Home?
By Taylor Swaak, Chronicle of Higher Education.
August 21, 2023
Critical competencies for leading major institutional restructuring in higher education (aka Big Scary Change)

By Ricardo Azziz, Guilbert C. Hentschke, Lloyd Jacobs, Richard Katzman, Bonita Jacobs, TIAA Institute.

August 14, 2023
Merger Watch: Are faith-based colleges in trouble? It depends

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

July 19, 2023
Merger Watch: Is government support for distressed colleges a good thing?

By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.

July 12, 2023
SPH Consulting Group: Facing the Enrollment Challenge in Higher Education

By Ricardo Azziz, Education Technology Insights.

July 12, 2023
SPH Consulting Group Recognized as one of the Top 10 Education Consulting Companies 2023

By Education Technology Insights.

June 25, 2023
Merge or die? Some private Iowa colleges face tough choices as enrollment continues to tumble
By Tyler Jett, Des Moines Register.
June 23, 2023
Merger Watch: New federal policy injects delay and uncertainty into merger process
By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.
May 12, 2023
Merger Watch: How internal and external college mergers are similar — and how they’re different
By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.
Apr. 7, 2023
Merger Watch: Cannibalism as a way to increase enrollment
By Ricardo Azziz, Higher Ed Dive.
Mar. 20, 2023
Merger Watch: Opinions on corporate restructuring in higher education

By Higher Ed Dive.

Mar. 13, 2023
Merger Watch: Mergers in higher education are about the students

By Ricardo Azziz. Higher Ed Dive.

Feb. 13, 2023
Merger Watch: Merger Watch: Size matters for surviving the enrollment drop.
By Ricardo Azziz. Higher Ed Dive.
Jan. 11, 2023
Merger Watch: How do you start conversations about a possible college merger? One person at a time.
By Ricardo Azziz. Higher Ed Dive.
Dec. 5, 2022
Merger Watch: Don’t wait too long to find a merger partner. Closure does not benefit anybody.
By Ricardo Azziz. Higher Ed Dive.
Nov. 14, 2022
Merger Watch: Mergers in higher education are global. Here are lessons for US colleges.

By Ricardo Azziz. Higher Ed Dive.

Aug. 17, 2022
Have you considered a merger? Because hope is not a plan in higher ed. Why is it that there are so many more closures than mergers?
By Brian Weinblatt and Ricardo Azziz. University Business (UB) Magazine.
Aug. 2, 2022
University of North Georgia’s president to retire in 2023.
The Associated Press.
Aug. 1, 2022
Bonita Jacobs stepping down as UNG president. Here’s why, when.
By Jeff Gill. The Times.
July 19, 2022
Broke Colleges Resort to Mergers for Survival. Takeovers increase as a shakeup in higher education leaves schools in trouble.
By Douglas Belkin. Wall Street Journal.
Oct. 27, 2021
Mergers in Higher Education: The Need to Consider
Inside Higher Ed.
Oct. 26, 2021
Mergers in Higher Education: The Need to Consider
By Ricardo Azziz. Academic Minute.
Sept. 24, 2020
COVID-19: An accelerant for differentiation and institutional consolidation
By Ricardo Azziz. University Business (UB) Magazine.
Sept. 14, 2021
What Should Guide the Decision for Institutional Merger or Acquisition in Higher Education? Student Success and Opportunity
By Ricardo Azziz and James E. Samels. JHU Press Blog.
COVID-19: What the pandemic might mean for mergers in higher education
By Ricardo Azziz. TIAA Institute, Washington, DC.
COVID-19: Will the pandemic worsen U.S. higher education’s excess capacity?
By Ricardo Azziz. TIAA Institute, Washington, DC.
July 30, 2020
More States Are Looking at Consolidating Their Public Colleges. Does It Work?
By Lee Gardner. Chronicle Higher Education.
Feb. 27, 2020
Make Mergers of Colleges Strategic and Mainstream, Not Desperate and A Last Resort.
By Michael B. Horn. Forbes.
Feb. 16, 2020
A Merger Can Save Your College, but Don’t Wait Too Long.
By Ricardo Azziz, Lloyd A. Jacobs, and Haven Ladd. Changing Higher Ed Podcast 031. The Change Leader.
Dec. 15, 2019
The Best Time to Merge: Before ‘No One Wants You’.
By Peter Monaghan. Chronicle of Higher Education.
Oct. 29, 2019
Mergers In The 21st Century Higher Education Landscape: Why A New Book Was Needed.
JHU Press Blog.
Oct. 10, 2019
For Some Colleges, the Best Move Is to Merge.
By John Hanc. New York Times.
Feb. 27, 2019
Mergers and Acquisitions: Strategic Questions Every University Leader Should Ask Now – Not When It’s Too Late.

An interview with Ricardo Azziz and Nivine Megahed. Academic Impressions.