Surveys gauge comparisons

A negative perception of the city led the list of deterrents to attending the university.
By KANTELE FRANKO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Enrollment at Youngstown State University this fall did not meet the institution's target, and two recent surveys of potential students might offer an explanation.
Falling behind its goal of 14,000 students by 2008, the university enrolled 12,812 students for fall 2005.
Dr. Cynthia Anderson, vice president for student affairs, and Dr. Thomas Maraffa, special assistant to the president, addressed enrollment when presenting results of the spring Image Survey and the fall Admitted/Not Enrolled Student Survey to the YSU Board of Trustees during its committee meetings Tuesday.
To get back on track for its target, YSU needs about 13,550 enrolled students by fall 2006, Maraffa said .
The Image Survey, which was mailed in the spring to local graduating high school seniors and their parents, asked potential students to compare YSU to two competing institutions.
Respondents ranked various qualities of the institution, such as safety, quality of campus and facilities, value and cost, surrounding community, intellectual climate and quality of graduates. The most common competing institutions reported were Kent State University, the University of Akron and Ohio State University.
How rankings played out
While respondents ranked YSU positively on its value, availability of majors and quality of academic facilities, they highlighted a negative perception of the Youngstown community as a main factor that discourages enrollment.
The notion that YSU students have a lower academic caliber than other college students also has a negative effect, according to the survey results.
"YSU is perceived as a place where people who have not done so well or who have no other choice attend," Maraffa said.
Those negative factors might have played into the decisions of about 1,100 admitted applicants who did not attend YSU this fall.
Anderson said that number is "not alarming" because the introduction of online applications has prompted more students statewide to complete the application process for more colleges.
Students often wait to find out how many schools accept them and what financial aid they might receive from different institutions before making a choice, she said.
Of the 1,100 applicants, the Admitted/Not Enrolled survey in early October randomly sampled 209 of those students -- 100 men and 109 women -- about their decisions not to attend. Students were questioned about their final choices, financial aid and the factors that affected the decision.
The top reported reason for not attending was the choice to go to an alternative college or university.
"It wasn't something that YSU was doing wrong," Anderson said.
Other explanations offered by students included financial aid, the size and location of the school, the cost of tuition and prioritization of work over education.