Finances were a major concern addressed in the HLC’s letter to Favede: The Institution does not have sufficient fiscal resources to support its operations, as evidenced by its declaration of financial exigency in the spring of 2019. Two critical planning documents, Wheeling’s “Five-Year Financial Sustainability Plan” (October 18, 2019 and revised January 24, 2020) and “Journey Forward Together: A Strategic Plan for Wheeling University 2020-2024” (September 6, 2020) both contain exceedingly optimistic targets for critical indices of fiscal health, including enrollment growth, retention, and discount rate.
