Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Fahey: More than 1,000 students didn’t return; recruitment also down
By Denise Dick
Youngstown
Student retention was more of a problem than recruitment in Youngstown State University’s enrollment drop this semester, one official said.
The university had forecast a 1 percent enrollment increase this year. Instead, fall enrollment fell 4.3 percent, from 15,194 in 2010 to 14,540 this semester.
There was a drop in undergraduate recruitment, Jack Fahey, vice president for student affairs, told trustees at a meeting Tuesday. There also was a decline of 215 nontraditional students.
“More serious is what happened in the percentage of returning undergraduates,” he said.
There were more than 1,000 students who didn’t return this year.
“That surprised all of us,” Fahey said.
The university examined a lot of factors to try to determine the causes, and that examination continues, he said.
One factor is affordability.
Many of the students who didn’t return couldn’t register because they have a past-due balance with YSU. Of those, about 420 had low grade-point averages.
But about 300 of them were good students with GPAs of 2.5 or higher, the vice president said.
Another factor is competition from other universities including Eastern Gateway Community College and Kent State University-Trumbull. But of those who didn’t return to YSU, 873 aren’t attending any college or university this semester.
YSU moved its deadline to register for fall classes up this year, which also may have played a role, Fahey said.
Last year, YSU moved the deadline up to a week before school started, and that deadline was enforced. This year, it moved up two more weeks, to three weeks before the start of school.
Last year, 1,500 students registered in those last weeks. This year, that number fell to 850.
Fahey said a more aggressive marketing campaign touting what YSU has to offer is planned to bolster enrollment.
The enrollment decline and the loss of about $4.5 million that goes with it came as the university was negotiating new contracts with its two largest employee unions.
A tentative agreement was reached last week between YSU and the Association of Classified Employees. No details have been released, and union members are expected to vote on the pact next week.
Talks are to resume this morning between representatives of the administration and the YSU-Ohio Education Association, which represents the faculty.