For the second consecutive year, the University of Missouri expects a drop in enrollment for the fall freshman class.
About 4,000 first-time college students are expected to enroll in August, according to an MU news release Friday. As of this past Monday, 4,009 students paid the fall enrollment deposits, which is the figure officials used to make their projection. Last year at this time, that number was 4,738 students. That represents about a 15 percent drop.
Most freshmen are first-time college students, and when MU talks about the freshmen class, it means all first-time college students. Students can continue to enroll throughout the summer, so the projection could fluctuate. MU hasn’t enrolled fewer than 4,000 first-time students since 1999, according to MU enrollment data.
From fall 2015 to fall 2016, MU saw its freshman class decrease by 1,605 students, according to MU enrollment data. MU’s fall 2016 class, which includes first-time students as well as transfer students, was 5,995 students compared to 7,600 the year before. First-time college students decreased from 6,191 in 2015 to 4,772 in 2016. Every department at MU saw enrollment decreases from 2015 to 2016 except for the College of Human Environmental Science.
Officials have attributed the decreases to several causes. One factor was the Concerned Student 1950 protests in fall 2015, which generated national media coverage and led to the resignations of then-UM System President Tim Wolfe and then-MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.
During a UM System Board of Curators meeting last week, new UM System President Mun Choi said the system is anticipating a $9 million decline in revenue across its four campuses, according to previous Missourian reporting. The system could increase tuition and fees for current students to make up for the shortfall. The increase would add about $200 to undergraduate resident students and about $500 to out-of-state students.
In preparation for the lower enrollment at MU, Residential Life decided to temporarily close seven residence halls for the 2017-2018 school year: Center, Responsibility, Discovery, Respect, Excellence, Schurz and McDavid, according to previous Missourian reporting. Center was built in 2006, and Respect, Responsibility, Discovery and Excellence were built in 2004. Schurz was renovated in 2008, and McDavid was renovated in 2007.
Mun Choi
MU is taking a proactive approach to turn around its enrollment by creating the Strategic Enrollment Management Committee. Pat Okker, interim dean of the College of Arts and Science, and Pelema Morrice, vice provost for enrollment management, will co-chair the committee. The committee will also have at least four faculty members, two staff members and two students.
Committee members will review student recruiting plans, tuition and financial models, student success planning and student yield, retention and degree persistence, with the goal being to create strategies and policies to aid MU enrollment efforts, according to a news release.
“This committee will help us create our strategy for the future in the years to come,” Morrice said in the release. “We continue to expect high-quality, but fewer, first-time college students for the next year or two. We expect this committee to complete its work over the next 12 to 18 months.”
To increase enrollment, MU will look into creating “alternative student pipelines” and increasing student retention, MU Interim Chancellor Garnett Stokes said in the release. In 2014, MU’s student retention rate was 84 percent, which ranked 10th in the Southeastern Conference, according to MU enrollment data.
From the fall 2016 semester to the spring 2017 semester, MU’s retention rate was 94 percent, according to the release announcing freshman enrollment.
MU’s fall 2015 freshman class was bigger than the classes at other colleges in the region such as the University of Arkansas, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Kansas, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Iowa.
Freshman enrollment in fall 2016 was smaller than the University of Illinois and the University of Iowa and was about the same as the University of Nebraska. While the University of Kansas and University of Arkansas had smaller freshman classes than MU, both schools have been growing for the past five years, according to enrollment data from both universities.
Overall undergraduate enrollment in four-year public universities decreased by 0.3 percent from fall 2015 to fall 2016, according to data from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.
An “online exclusive” is an article or story that does not run in the print edition of the Houston Herald. Typically 2-3 are posted online every Wednesday morning. It’s another feature designed for users who purchase full web access from the Herald.
Click here to subscribe for print, digital or both.