Overall USU enrollment down
A smaller graduating class of high school students in Utah, economic factors and higher admission requirements for incoming freshmen have contributed to a decreased enrollment at Utah State University campus for Fall 2004.
USU raised the admission requirements for students applying for enrollment, which resulted in 400 prospective freshmen being denied to attend the
Fall 2004 semester as opposed to the 100 students USU usually denies for a semester, said Joyce Kinkead, vice provost of undergraduate studies and research.
“In 2001, I was approached by members of the student government, and they said to me ‘USU will accept anyone who breathes,” Kinkead said, “It is devaluingour degrees.”
Kinkead said in 2001 USU was not incompliance with policy set by the Board of Regents, that no more than 5 percent of a universities students fail to meet admission standards, and USU had 11 percent who were not meeting the requirements.
Some of the students USU accepted were guaranteed to flunk out, Kinkead said, and USU did not view it as ethical to accept these students, leading to stricter guidelines.
With the number of high school graduates in the state of Utah decreasing, there is a smaller market for students who will attend USU, Kinkead said.
In 2000, the number of high school graduates in the state of Utah reached a high of 33,510, but has steadily decreased every year, according to a 2003 release by Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. The number of graduates is not predicted to increase until 2006.
“USU students, in general, have to pay for more than just tuition. Housing and other costs make it more practical for the students to live at home and go to a college closer to them,” Kinkead said.
Kinkead said other reasons such as federal regulations making it more difficult for international students to come to the United States, out-of-state students choosing to go to BYU-Idaho to avoid out-of-state tuition, and House Bill 331 making it harder to obtain residency in Utah, have affected the enrollment at USU.
The university has no control over most of these factors, Kinkead said, but the goal of the university is to work with the issues they do have control of.
Utah has the second lowest out-of-state tuition, and the university plans to increase the out-of-state enrollment, Kinkead said, particularly in states where the in-state tuition is higher than the out-of-state tuition at USU.
An article in the September 2004 edition of NASULGC (National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges) Newsline, said the Measuring Up 2004: The National Report Card on Higher Education reports “Only three states-California, Minnesota, and Utah, received a grade of C or above in the affordability measures.”
Increasing graduate students and retaining students are two other goals the university has to increase enrollment at USU, Kinkead said.
USU currently has a 75 percent retention rate of students from their freshman to sophomore years, Kinkead said, in 2001 it was 63 percent, and by retaining students, USU becomes a more efficient university.
Tiffany Evans, director of the student involvement and leadership center, said with a smaller enrollment this will effect the fee-receiving programs and organizations at USU, which they receive an allocation of the activity fees students pay with their tuition.
With a smaller enrollment, there will be less money to go to university groups such as ASUSU, the Student Health and Wellness Center, the Outdoor Recreation Center, computer labs, and any events or activities sponsored by these groups, Evans said.
To increase the number of freshmen accepted, USU would have to do something dramatic, Kinkead said, the university anticipates the number of incoming freshmen will decrease until 2006 when the number of graduating high school students increases in the state of Utah.
-cmoffitt@cc.usu.edu