Central State enrollment continues to grow

WILBERFORCE, Ohio (AP) -- Enrollment at Ohio's only historically black public university is continuing to strengthen, and administrators at Central State University hope to expand programs to help accommodate the growth and keep students in school through graduation.
Enrollment for the fall quarter was 1,744 as of Thursday, a day after classes began, up from 1,563 at this time last year.
Registration remains open for the first two weeks of the quarter. Final enrollment last year was 1,621, a 12.6 percent increase from 2002. As a sign that dropout rates are beginning to improve, the number of returning students has increased to 932 from 837 last year, President John Garland said. But retention and graduation rates lag behind statewide averages, he said.
"If we want to continue to attract new students and grow, we have to show that we can retain and graduate those who come to us for an education," Garland said on Friday in a report to the board.
"We need to start new programs," he said. "My task is to find adequate political and financial support for this effort."
The enrollment figures are the latest signs of the university's rebound from years of financial problems. Central State emerged from state fiscal oversight in April 2002, five years after the state took over the school's finances.