Enrollment looking up
Enrollment is slightly up, according to a Utah State University enrollment comparison report of Fall Semesters 2002 and 2003 compiled on Sept. 11, the 14th day of classes.
The comparison report is not the official census taken on the 15th day of class each fall semester. The official census is used to determine the budget allocated to USU by the state and for national comparisons of college campuses around the United States.
According to the comparison report, the total head count of individual students attending USU this semester is 23,016, an increase of 483, while the FTE student body has only slightly increased to 17,014 – a difference of 87 students.
Joyce Kinkead, vice provost for Undergraduate Studies and Research, said head count is simply counting each student one by one. FTE refers to a “full-time-equivalent” student, which is determined by taking the total number of student credit hours and dividing them by 15, the number of credits considered “full-time” by the state of Utah.
“Thus, one student taking 15 credits equals one FTE student. However, say we have two students, one taking eight credits and the other taking seven credits. They are two head-count students but only one FTE student,” Kinkead said.
Heidi Beck, associate registrar at USU, said, “Everybody on campus is concerned with FTE and head count because that is how we are reimbursed by the state. So, it is very important that we monitor those things. Our budget depends on what our FTE is.”
State appropriated funds pay one third of the total operating expenses for USU and another third comes from government grants and contracts, Kinkead said. Government grants and contacts help profoundly with funding and average about $100 million annually to USU for research, she said. With these grants and contracts, USU is able to employ approximately 1,400 undergraduate and graduate students to aid in research, Kinkead said.
“Utah State University now has two IPEDS [Integrated Post-secondary Educational Data System] numbers to categorize its students, and all colleges and universities report their numbers to this federal system. The ‘census date’ when the official count is taken is day 15 of the term. The fall term is especially important as the figures collected then are the ones that are used for national comparisons,” Kinkead said.
USU applied for and received a second IPEDS number for reporting continuing-education students, Kinkead said. The original IPEDS number is used for reporting main campus students, allowing the university to give a more accurate description of the campus numbers, Kinkead said. The second IPEDS number is used for continuing-education students who often have different characteristics than main campus undergraduates, Kinkead said.
“This is a more logical way to count. Continuing-education students more often are of non-traditional age and attend part-time and may or may not be seeking a degree,” Kinkead said.
Continuing education, Kinkead said, includes all “time-enhanced” delivery of classes typically known as distance education but including Web-based courses, satellite delivery and independent study. A number of centers exist around the state where citizens may attend classes, often delivered via satellite. The Uintah Basin campus is the largest of the continuing-education centers and has significant classroom buildings in both Vernal and Roosevelt, Kinkead said.
“Utah State’s emphasis is on quality, not quantity. We need to be careful stewards of enrollment so that we continue to foster a campus where academics come first,” Kinkead said.
With this idea in mind, USU has recruited a class of “high-caliber” freshmen with an average ACT score of 23 and an average high school GPA nearing 3.58, Kinkead said. The last time an entering freshman class had an ACT score of 23 was in 1998, she said.
Beck said there is a “three-pronged approach” to raise the caliber of USU freshmen. She said the university looked at past numbers to determine which students benefited the most from a college education and from there eliminate those that would not benefit from a university experience at that time. Beck said the third step was to pay close attention to the admission standards set by the university and follow them.
By establishing enrollment goals and implementing second-tier tuition, Kinkead said, the university can better manage its curriculum by preparing sufficient classes for incoming freshmen. For instance, this year and last year, USU has been able to enroll all freshmen in freshmen composition classes their first year at the university, Kinkead said.
“We compliment the students for endorsing second-tier tuition, which has allowed us to hire more teachers to meet the demand,” she said.
Kinkead said USU wants to increase the number of upper-division graduate students, particularly doctoral students, and are accomplishing this by recruiting transfer students. Each college has also set enrollment goals for the first time this year, Kinkead said; for example, some colleges like the College of Business wish to stabilize their enrollment numbers while others such as the College of Agriculture want to raise their numbers while still maintaining the high quality of students currently enrolled.
The colleges that are trying to increase their numbers are doing more active recruiting, Beck said.
“The admissions office is working hard to partner more with those colleges and departments that want to increase,” Beck said.
However, some programs like elementary education are trying to decrease their enrollment, Beck said. The elementary education program has the largest graduating class on campus and as a result has implemented some strict enrollment guidelines that require students to maintain a certain GPA and complete a set of prerequisites before they can apply to the program.
Although it appears that enrollment has had a slight increase this year, USU seeks to stabilize their enrollment and grow in limited terms over the next few years, Kinkead said. The enrollment goal for new freshmen is 2,600. It appears the goal has been met for this fall and it will continue to be the goal for 2004, Kinkead said.
“One reason why the university wishes to stabilize enrollment is to enhance the student-to-faculty ratio, which has been unacceptably high,” Kinkead said. “With the help of second-tier tuition, more faculty are being hired on an annual basis so we can lower that ratio, which, in turn, means more faculty to teach classes and advise students as well as smaller classes and a wider range of subjects within degree programs.”
-dlalbiston@cc.usu.edu