Wright State sets enrollment record

[Raider Rowdies]

Wright State sets enrollment record
By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer
September 23, 2009

FAIRBORN — Wright State University’s total enrollment has reached a milestone of more than 18,000 students, according to school officials. The record enrollment reflects sharp increases at Ohio’s public, four-year institutions amid the current economy.

“When jobs are not available, students look to go to school,” said Jacqueline McMillan, Wright State’s associate provost for enrollment management.

Wright State on Wednesday, Sept. 23, announced a university-wide total of 18,786 students for fall 2009, a 6.4 increase over last year’s enrollment of 17,662 students.

The increase surpasses the university’s previous record in 1991 of 17,761 students.

Total enrollment includes undergraduate and graduate students on Wright State’s main campus in Fairborn and its Lake Campus in Celina.

Wright State officials attribute the enrollment growth in part to its tuition of $2,511 per quarter, one of the lowest rates among public, four-year schools in Ohio.

“We’ve been very purposeful in trying to keep tuition down while increasing the quality, so even as you see the quality of the institution and the academic programs continue to rise, we’ve been very focused on holding down the cost,” McMillan said.

Enrollment has spiked at other area public, four-year universities.

Central State University in Wilberforce, Greene County, had the second-largest increase in enrollment growth this fall of any public, four-year institution in Ohio, according to spokeswoman Fran Robinson. Central State increased its total enrollment by 12 percent from fall 2008 to 2,436 students.

The University of Cincinnati, which started classes Wednesday, is projecting a total enrollment of 38,700 students — the largest number of students in 28 years and more than 1,600 over last year’s total enrollment of 37,072. UC’s total includes a record freshman class of 6,000, the highest in school history.

The Ohio State University also started Wednesday with one of the largest first-year classes in its history. The projected freshman class of 6,550 students represents an increase of 500 students over fall 2008. Ohio State does not project total enrollment figures, according to university officials.

Miami University in Oxford has a total fall enrollment of 21,478 students, up 313 from fall 2008.

“In this economic climate, many students are seeking a high quality education that is affordable. Our region is fortunate to be rich with numerous colleges and universities that meet this criterion,” said Sean Creighton, executive director of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education.


www.springfieldnewssun.com/news/springfield-news/wright-state-sets-enrollment-record-313898.html

[redsfan776]

Wright State officials attribute the enrollment growth in part to its tuition of $2,511 per quarter, one of the lowest rates among public, four-year schools in Ohio.

Something I really like, as I think I'm going to end up going to Wright State next year.

[Raider Rowdies]

Sept 23, 2009 20:10:25 GMT -5 @blitzdorsey said:

That's a good sign. A very good sign, in fact.

Ohio State also set a record for enrollment this week. I thought OSU would go in the opposite direction since it's so hard to get in there compared to past years (when I was coming out of high school in '94, almost anyone with a pulse was accepted by OSU ... now it's tougher to get into than Miami). In fact, I don't understand why OSU's enrollment is going up. Since it's so much tougher to get into now, wouldn't there be less students? The only explanation is that a bunch of high-level students that wouldn't have applied to OSU in the past are now going there since the academic reputation has improved. Actually, the little secret is that OSU was always a great academic school, it just had a bad rep because they let almost anyone in. They had the highest dropout rate in the country at one point. I'm glad they cleaned things up.

But as for WSU, again, that's a great sign because I could have imagined enrollment dropping since so many people in Dayton have lost jobs over the last year. Less parents being able to afford to help their kids out, etc.

When did this become an Ohio State site?

[OG Raiderfan]

An increase in enrollment should help with WSU's revenue woes.

[Raider Rowdies]

Wright State’s planning pays off
By Dave Larsen, Staff Writer
September 24, 2009

FAIRBORN — Anticipating increased enrollment, Wright State University officials this summer added sections and instructors to particular general education courses that would see more students.

The university also renovated and opened new classrooms in the former Boonshoft School of Medicine, which moved to a new facility.

“I don’t think we’ll see huge classes beyond what would be typical,” said Jacqueline McMillan, associate provost for enrollment management. “We’ve also been very conscious in trying to keep the number of students in classes down.”

Wright State on Wednesday, Sept. 23, announced a record total enrollment of 18,786 students, a 6.4 percent increase in students from last year.

The number of students living on campus this year remains at about 3,000, meaning an increase in commuting students. Wright State last year added parking lots to try to accommodate more traffic, but parking remains a problem, McMillan said.

Wright State’s enrollment was boosted in part by a 24 percent increase in transfer students from other institutions.

“I would expect that students decided to return home, many of them, and go to school closer to home and reduce their cost,” McMillan said.

Other Ohio four-year institutions are seeing similar increases in transfer students, said Sean Creighton, executive director of the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education.

“The conclusion we can draw is the economy is definitely impacting the choices that families are making, and they’re choosing a more affordable education that still offers the same quality,” Creighton said.

Wright State also has seen a 24 percent increase in older students returning to college to complete degrees, and a 28 percent increase in students who are not recent high school graduates seeking degrees for the first time.

Wright State, like other universities, is enjoying record enrollment even though in July it raised undergraduate tuition 3.5 percent to $2,511 per quarter for full-time students, effective this fall. The university also raised resident fees 2 percent to 4 percent, raised basic food plan costs 3 percent and cut departmental budgets by $11.7 million to make up in part for cuts in state funding.

But Wright State has shifted some of its increased tuition revenue back to its students, McMillan said.

“We used to award many of our institutional dollars as loans for students,” McMillan said. “We changed that this year. All of our institutional dollars were grants for students, so that the students’ debt burden could be lowered.”

www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/wright-states-planning-pays-off-314390.html