YSU enrollment growth is team effort

Low tuition, increased aid and quality programs were among the factors cited.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — Getting student enrollment at Youngstown State University to reach its highest level in 13 years didn’t happen by accident.

President David C. Sweet said it’s been a concerted effort over a period of several years focusing on recruitment of new students and retention of current students along with new educational offerings and other enticements.

The university announced Wednesday that the fall 2007 enrollment stands at 13,497, an increase of 314 students, or 2.4 percent, over fall 2006.

It is the highest enrollment since 13,979 students were attending classes in fall semester 1994.

Since fall 2000, enrollment is up 1,701 students, or 14.5 percent.

Boosting enrollment has been a major goal for Sweet since his arrival seven years ago.

“To maintain enrollment increases of this magnitude in a region that continues to lose population is a reflection of the hard work and dedication of thousands of faculty, staff, students and community members,” he said. “YSU is committed to increasing enrollment in order to increase educational attainment levels in the Mahoning Valley, which is a key factor in the future economic growth of the region.”

Several factors

“Increasing enrollment is not the result of any single factor,” Sweet said. “It’s a combination of small things that really make a difference.”

YSU’s undergraduate tuition at $6,721 remains the lowest among Ohio’s 11 comprehensive public universities.

YSU also offers a comprehensive financial aid program that has students, on average, paying just 46 percent of their tuition cost out of their own pockets, according to Sweet.

University and YSU Foundation scholarship totals rose from $9.73 million in 2007 to $11.1 million this year. That number doesn’t include scholarships that students secure from outside agencies and organizations.

The university has also focused heavily on new recruitment efforts over the past couple of years, targeting Western Pennsylvania residents with a “Cross the Line” drive launched in fall 2005.

That was followed by a new overall marketing campaign in March 2006 called “Your Success is Our Story” and featuring YSU graduates talking about their career successes.

Combined with that were efforts to increase student retention through a variety of ways, including efforts to fortify campus life at a university where more than 12,000 of its students are commuters.

The theory is that students who are involved in their college experience perform better academically, are more likely to graduate and achieve higher levels of personal development, according to Dr. Cynthia Anderson, vice president of student affairs.

Number 1

But Sweet said the No. 1 factor in increasing student enrollment has been the offering of quality academic programs that meet student needs and the regional job market. The College of Health and Human Services has been a leader in that area with growth in its nursing, forensic science and other programs, he said.

Restructuring YSU’s engineering and science programs to create the College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics this fall is another example of adapting to meet the needs of students and the community, he said.

Creation of a general studies bachelor’s degree program three years ago has been a major success. The program was created primarily to draw students who never quite completed their college degrees back to school. Molly Burdette, program coordinator, said initial projections anticipated an enrollment of 30 students by fall 2008, but the number is already more than 100.

Slightly more than half are people who have come back to complete degree requirements and about half are full-time students, she said.

Nice facilities can also be an enticement for prospective students, and that was part of the emphasis in building the Andrews Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which opened in fall 2005. It was YSU students who pushed for a new recreation center, and they helped in planning the $12 million project.

Tom Maraffa, special assistant to the president, who has overseen YSU’s enrollment management plan, said the university set an enrollment goal of 14,000 students by 2008, YSU’s centennial year. “With this year’s increase, we are within striking distance,” he said.

More minority students

The number of minority students also continues to increase, from 2,062 last fall to 2,338 this fall. Since fall 2001, minority student enrollment has jumped by 914 students, or 64 percent.

The enrollment numbers represent head count enrollment, which counts every student enrolled at YSU. The university also calculates full-time equivalent enrollment. That number is also up, from 10,590 last fall to 10,794 this fall. FTE enrollment has jumped by 1,594, or 17.3 percent, since fall 2000.

The 2007-08 general fund budget is based on an FTE number of 10,461.

Each FTE generates about $7,500 in annual revenue. This fall’s FTE is 333 higher than was budgeted, which means YSU should receive an additional $2.5 million in tuition revenue.

School officials have said additional instructional and student services costs associated with the higher enrollment could eat up a big chunk of that revenue.

gwin@vindy.com