Growing a School
Despite her minimal formal education and her status as a women in an industry dominated by men, there were a number of factors Gertrude Shapiro had working in her favor. The period of Mr. Shapiro’s declining health provided the time and motivation for her to learn the processes involved in managing the school. She also had the support of faculty members Ernest Seavey, who oversaw the advanced accounting program, and Nellie E. Young who oversaw the secretarial and beginning accounting courses and acted as the school's Director. Mrs. Shapiro also hired local attorney William S. Green to assist with the settling of the estate of Mr. Shapiro. He would become a long-time advisor of Mrs. Shapiro, trustee of the college, and later serve as Chancellor.
Mrs. Shapiro also recalled the support of the students: “At that time, I think, the students were wonderful. They wanted to keep the school going. They were sympathetic. I had their encouragement, their good will, and their help. They would often ask me ‘is there anything we can do for you?’”
Mrs. Shapiro initially adopted the title of “Manager” of the school, but by the time of the August 1953 commencement she used the title of “President” and consistently held that title from that point forward. Her presidency, however, was not like that at other educational institutions. She described her role as one of wearing many hats. She was the receptionist, managed admissions, placement, purchasing, bookkeeping, and even taught a shorthand course.
Turning the school that Gertrude inherited from her husband into one that could provide both for her students and her family was no small matter: “I knew that I couldn’t spend more than I was earning, and yet I had to improve the school a great deal in many areas. I knew that the typewriters were getting old, the business machines were slipping, and so that every penny we scarped went into new equipment.” Initially, the family lived mostly on Social Security benefits while the school barely remained solvent. The school performed mimeographing and calculator work for local businesses to help make ends meet.
Finding enough students to fill the seats was also an issue. The year after Harry Shapiro’s death day enrollments at the school were at a low point with just 25 day students, thought there were high numbers of night school students, partially offsetting the decline. There was a national trend in reduced enrollments in business schools. Many schools went out of business as federal regulations tightened use of G.I. Bill funds and World War II veterans were falling out of eligibility for aid.
To boost enrollments, Gertrude Shapiro arranged for the addition of the franchised Speedwriting shorthand course. The school benefitted not only from the ability to offer the pre-packaged curriculum, but also from the promotional materials and methods that the course provided.
Other programs were introduced to boost use of the school in summer months including a typing class and PAR speedreading course, both geared towards the teenage market, and additional franchised courses such as the Weaver Real Estate School, IBM Clerical courses, and Nancy Taylor Charm and Finishing School. The Korean War was also winding down, which would soon provide a steady stream of veterans newly eligible for G.I. Bill education benefits.
Mrs. Shapiro also instituted a partial payment plan to extend access to education to students who could not otherwise afford it. She described the origins of this system: “I know one fellow came to me and said ‘I’d love to go to school, but I don’t have the money.’ And I said ‘Well, how much do you have, what can you do?’ and we established that he would pay monthly as he went along, graduated without completely paying his bill, but finally paid it up and thanked me for allowing him to get his education that way. And this was the start of many people doing the same thing.”
Total enrollments bottomed out in 1954 with 213 total students and grew slowly but steadily over the next few years to 283 total enrollments by 1957.