USU's Enrollment Numbers Stablizing

Utah State University’s overall fall enrollment points to the end of a three-year slide in student enrollment numbers. Contributing to this turnaround has been a significant increase in first-year and transfer students.

 

“More than a year ago we set out to stabilize our declining enrollment, and that is exactly what we have achieved,” said Raymond T. Coward, USU executive vice president and provost. “We can declare this year’s recruitment and admissions effort a victory.”

 

USU reports 15,539 full-time equivalent students – essentially the same number that enrolled in Fall 2005 (one half of one percent fewer).

 

“Our full-time equivalent enrollments are stable at both our main campus and our regional campuses,” he said. “Our success at stabilizing our enrollments positions us for true gains in enrollment next year, if we can repeat our admission successes from this past year.”

 

This success is due, primarily, to two factors. First, USU’s first-year class of students is one of the largest in recent history, up 23 percent over last year.

 

Noelle Cockett, vice president for Extension and dean of Agriculture, said USU’s freshman increase bodes well for the university’s future.

 

“I am excited and enthusiastic about the increase in freshman enrollment that is seen campus-wide, an indication that our strong academic commitment is valued and, most importantly, influencing students to come to USU,” she said. “I am confident that this trajectory for recruitment success will continue. Obviously, these freshman become next year’s sophomores and the following year’s juniors and so on, so this increase in freshman enrollment will have a positive influence on total enrollment numbers in years to come.”

 

In addition to the freshman class jump, USU’s out-of-state enrollments in the first-year class are up 41 percent. In the Fall 2006, one in five students in USU’s incoming first-year class is from out-of-state.

 

Another important factor has been USU’s success in increasing the number of transfer students by 10 percent, including a 27 percent increase in out-of-state transfer students.

 

“I decided to come to Utah State when the university was so willing to work with me on my transfer credits and help me graduate quickly,” said Nate Barker, a master’s student in accounting. “I had a lot of friends who were USU students, and they were full of praises about Utah State.”

 

Coward said he is especially gratified that USU’s gains have not come at the expense of lowering its academic standards or decreasing its commitment to diversity.

 

“We have been able to achieve this success without compromising our academic standards,” he said. “Indeed, the mean ACT scores of this year’s incoming freshman class are slightly above that of last year. At the same time, USU’s overall enrollment of African-American students is up 22 percent.”

 

Over this next year, the university will continue to emphasize personal visits to high schools in Utah, Wyoming, Idaho and Nevada. These involve open houses attended by university President Stan L. Albrecht, accompanied by many of the deans from the university’s various colleges.

 

Jenn Putnam, director of Admissions, said she is optimistic that the significant recruitment successes this year will be followed again next year with similar progress.

 

“The future looks extremely promising given all the successes we’ve seen this year,” she said. “All of the programs we implemented are fully funded and in place again, and this will translate into substantial growth again for ’07.”

 

Putnam said the credit goes to the administration, the colleges and all the student support divisions for their efforts to complement her office’s stepped-up recruitment programs and directives. She said advisers, deans and faculty from all colleges participated heavily in efforts throughout the year, even when called upon at the last minute. The directors of all the service organizations gave enthusiastic support when asked, and USU students themselves were a key factor in the successful recruiting season.

 

Recruitment efforts received a substantial boost when Albrecht named a critical Enrollment Committee to look at why freshman recruitment was down two years in a row.

 

“All of a sudden the entire campus was talking about recruitment – the colleges, administration, advisers,” she said. “When President Albrecht sent us back on the road to show parents and students Utah State’s message, we went with new enthusiasm and, more important, with the entire campus community backing us. The story we took on the road was impressive, and the new recruitment numbers show it.”

 

The Roads Scholar tour to Idaho and expanded open houses to the Wasatch Front were particularly productive, as application numbers increased even early in the recruitment season. Putnam said the administration came through with much-needed funding for critical components of an aggressive recruitment campaign. And the entire campus — from the president to deans to faculty to support staff — stepped up when asked to participate on site at open houses and in other face-to-face settings.

 

Putnam said that the university has made a concerted effort this year to include USU alumni in recruitment efforts. The Alumni office has committed to having an alumni presence at all recruitment events, and the recruitment office will attend alumni chapter events in the future. The university is already seeing the benefits of that focus, she said.

 

“We sent scholarships out Wednesday to three top students who we recruited at an alumni event in Phoenix,” Putnam said. “Our alumni are key; they know USU’s story and they can be our best recruiters.”

 

USU’s Logan campus setting and the convenient locations of its regional campuses certainly help in the overall recruitment strategy. In addition, the quality of USU’s teaching and learning, and the personalized care students receive are also important drawing cards — qualities current USU students appreciate and praise, she said.

 

Declines in enrollment during the past few years, which has impacted most universities statewide, can be attributed to a number of factors including a dip in the number of high school graduates, a change in state resident requirements, and even the fluctuating economy.

 

Contact: Provost Raymond T. Coward, 435-797-1167