Aggressive recruiting has paid off for many colleges this fall.
By offering admission to more students than ever before and introducing new tuition plans to woo middle-income families, they have increased the size of their freshman classes.
An informal survey conducted by The Chronicle of 40 public and private institutions found enrollment increases ranging from 2 to 15 per cent.
Admissions directors say they were determined not to have a repetition of last year’s experience, in which some institutions saw their freshman enrollments plunge by as much as 20 per cent.
The sluggishness of the economy may have prompted many high-school graduates to enroll in regional or two-year colleges this fall, rather than attempt to enter the job market.
“When high-school graduates’ job prospects are so poor, they have to consider postsecondary education,” said Frank Burtnett, executive director of the National Association of College Admission Counselors.
The recession also may have been an incentive for students and their families to hunt for higher-education bargains. “A lot of students are putting less-expensive options on their lists,” said Ann Ferguson, guidance counselor at the Hathaway-Brown School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. “The top private colleges will probably always fare well. But the next few tiers are going to have to do a hard sell, because these students know they can get a first-rate education at many public universities.”
A few trends were evident in
The Chronicle‘s survey:
* For the third year in a row, high-school graduates continued to enroll in community colleges in record numbers. They can often get their first two years of college at a fraction of the cost of attending a four-year institution.
* Private colleges in California and public universities in other Western states capitalized on California’s budget woes, which have caused double-digit tuition increases and overcrowded classes in the state’s public institutions.
* Some predominantly white institutions reported declines in the number of black and Hispanic freshmen, while the first-year enrollment at some black colleges remained level.
* The college-admission season dragged on into the summer because colleges continued to make offers to students after the formal deadlines for accepting admissions offers had passed.
Many admissions officers have expressed dismay that institutions did not stick to the May 1 deadline, by which students are supposed to notify colleges that they intend to enroll in the fall. Some said the extended admissions process might have forced institutions to pursue students who had already accepted offers from other colleges.
Said Paul Long, director of admissions at Pepperdine University: “People are saying they are getting their classes, but how many had to buy students?” Pepperdine University enrolled a smaller freshman class this year: 626 students, a 3.7-per-cent drop from last year’s. Mr. Long said the university had improved its retention rate and saw no need to use tuition discounts or other enticements to increase the size of its freshman class.
Similarly, officials at the University of Maryland said they were satisfied with their enrollment figures. This fall, 3,146 students enrolled in the university, 20 fewer than a year ago.
Maryland officials are still concerned about the bidding war for students, however. “It’s a pretty troubling development,” said Jack Fracasso, associate director of undergraduate admissions at the University of Maryland at College Park. “The economy is so weak and institutions are under so much pressure that the principles of good practice are being challenged.”
In summer months, many colleges customarily survey the students who did not accept their admission offers to find out why they didn’t enroll. As competition for students has become more aggressive, institutions have asked students how much financial aid they received from other colleges, said John Maguire, a consultant with Maguire Associates, a marketing-research firm.
He said the institutions then used the information to put together new aid packages in the hope of persuading the students and their parents to change their minds.
Said Charles A. Dominick, vice-president for institutional relations at Wittenberg University: “This is the first year we had students calling to see if we would match another college’s financial-aid offer.”
Wittenberg enrolled 558 freshmen this year, one less than last year. Mr. Dominick said the recession must be affecting students’ choices because this was the first year the university had lost more freshmen to public institutions than to private ones.
Officials at Ursinus College said they had not
used any special incentives to recruit 409 freshmen to the campus. Aggressive recruiting and a remodeled campus led to a 56 per cent jump in the number of freshmen, said Richard DiFeliciantonio, director of admissions.
The picture at public institutions was more mixed. The freshman class at Indiana University at Bloomington increased 4 per cent this fall, to 6,086, said Robert S. Magee, director of admissions. He attributed the growth to the weak economy and students wanting to attend college closer to home.
Fee increases and a smaller number of high-school graduates brought a 4-per-cent decline in the number of freshmen at the University of Arizona. Many high-school graduates turned to two-year institutions, such as Pima County Community College. “Students are coming over here because it’s cheaper and because they can’t get the classes they want at the university,” said Denis F. Viri, director of admissions at Pima. “Every time they raise the tuition, we see a jump in enrollment.”
Brookdale Community College has seen a 21.5-per-cent increase in the number of students in its transfer programs over the past two years. In 1990, 5,185 students were enrolled in transfer programs; this year almost 6,300 students were enrolled in them.
“It’s a bargain,” said Richard J. Pfeiffer, director of enrollment management at Brookdale. “They can save $8,000 over the cost of a state institution and $20,000 to $30,000 over the cost of a private institution.”
Hardest hit by enrollment declines was the California State University System, whose budget was slashed by lawmakers. System officials knew they would not be able to serve as many students in fall 1992 as they could last year. But the number of applicants declined more than officials expected.
Newspaper and television stories about overcrowded classes and a 40-per-cent fee increase may have scared students away, said Leone Niadiffera, assistant vice-president for institutional research at California State University at Hayward. Freshman enrollment at Hayward dropped 10 per cent this fall, to 595. Total enrollment for the 20-campus system dropped 3.3 per cent, to 350,000.
Meanwhile, admissions officers in Western states said the number of Californians on their campuses had increased. The University of Colorado enrolled 436 freshmen from California, up 34 per cent from last year. The University of Oregon enrolled 450, up 50 per cent.
“Many students can’t get into the University of California, and they don’t want to go to California State because they hear it’s overcrowded, so they are moving to other states in the West,” said Gerald R. Kissler, senior vice-provost at the University of Oregon.
Private colleges are also benefiting from the woes of California’s public institutions. “A lot of students are frustrated,” said Cary Templeton, director of admissions at Fresno Pacific University. “It’s taking between five and five and half years to graduate. Think about the hidden costs if they sacrifice $20,000 in income because they can’t get classes or because of poor advising.” Fresno’s entering class increased by six students, to 113.
The University of the Pacific enrolled 610 freshmen this fall, a 28-per-cent increase. The university guarantees that students will graduate within four years. It also offers loans of up to $20,000 for middle-income students. The entire amount will be forgiven for students who graduate with a 3.8-grade-point average. Students who graduate with a 3.0 GPA will have to repay 75 per cent of the loan.
Admissions officials said the economy had played a major role in minority enrollment this fall. Some of the institutions surveyed by The Chronicle said their numbers had declined slightly or increased negligibly. Even black colleges, which have posted significant increases in the past five years, said their freshman classes had remained stable or increased only slightly. “They are still applying,” said Ollie Bowman, dean of admissions at Hampton University. “But when it comes time for them to enroll, the money is not there. I believe many are choosing less expensive community colleges.” Hampton’s freshman class has 1,150 students, about the same as last year.
According to preliminary numbers, the number of black freshmen at the University of California at Berkeley declined by 8 per cent, to 242. The number of Hispanic students declined by 19 per cent, to 492. Walter Wong, a policy analyst in Berkeley’s admissions office said that the decrease was due in part to a decline in the number of black high-school graduates in California. The university does not know why the number of Hispanic students went down, he said.
The University of Maryland’s Mr. Fracasso said the university’s enrollment of black students had declined this year by approximately 2 per cent, from 419 students last year. He blamed the economy and said students were going to community colleges.
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale saw a 5-per-cent increase in black students, from 405 to 425.
Other institutions that reported total increases in their freshman classes are:
* Colorado State University, up 1.2 per cent, to 2,223.
* Howard University, up 11.6 per cent, to 1,356.
* Long Island University’s Brooklyn campus, up 13 per cent, to 800.
* Mississippi State University, up 8.2 per cent, to 1,682.
* Stillman College, up 5 per cent, to 253.
* The University of Dayton, up 8.5 per cent, to 1,626.
* The University of Idaho, up 4 per cent, to 1,324.
* Vassar College, up 2.5 per cent, to 610.