YSU spring enrollment 2.5% above a year ago

The university is hoping for an enrollment of 14,000
students this fall.

By HAROLD GWIN

VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The numbers aren’t official yet, but it looks like enrollment for the spring term at Youngstown State University is running 2.5 percent above a year ago.

Classes for the spring 2008 semester began Monday, and the university reported a first-day enrollment of 12,381, an increase of 296 over the first day for spring 2007.

The official count isn’t done until the 14th day of classes.

The university had a fall 2007 enrollment of 13,497, its highest fall number in 13 years.

Traditionally, there is some decline in enrollment with the start of the spring term, but YSU normally has about 95 percent of its fall number.

“We’re on target to achieve that,” said Dr. Thomas Maraffa, special assistant to President David C. Sweet.

Student retention is a key issue for the university although YSU does pick up some new students in the spring, Maraffa said.

The university has experienced enrollment growth in all but one of the last seven years, and Sweet has said that an enrollment of 14,000 is the goal for this fall as YSU marks its centennial anniversary.

That mark “is within reach,” Maraffa said.

YSU has launched a number of concerted efforts over the past several years to attract new students, including campaigns outside its traditional three-county base service area in Ohio and in neighboring Western Pennsylvania, but has also focused on retention.

The goal is to obtain, retain and graduate students, Sweet has said.

YSU’s Center for Student Progress, launched in 1996 to ensure that students are integrated into the social and academic communities and acquire the skills to succeed, has been instrumental on the retention portion of that effort, he said.

The university has been able to hold a 75 percent retention rate for first-time, full-time undergraduates who have used the center’s services. Sweet said that number compares well with the national retention rate of 64 percent for first-time, full-time undergraduates.

gwin@vindy.com