Enrollment Up At Ohio Universities

A great article (courtesy of the AP) regarding enrollment at Ohio Universities..  enjoy, marketmpb

 

Ohio universities say enrollments are up this fall

 

• By: Associated Press

CINCINNATI - Several Ohio universities are reporting increased and even record enrollments at a time when people are struggling to find jobs.
The University of Cincinnati projects a total enrollment of more than 41,000 students -- the highest in its 191 years -- up 4 percent from last year and about 1,500 higher than the previous record from 1980.

Kent State University reported that its more than 41,000-student enrollment is the highest in its 100 years after a record of more than 38,000 students last year. Cleveland State University's first-day fall enrollment reached an 18-year high of more than 17,000. Wright State University reported a record enrollment for the second consecutive year with nearly 20,000, and the private University of Dayton projects its largest undergraduate enrollment since the Vietnam War era with more than 7,800 students.

Higher education officials say the surge in students is due in part to more online offerings, improved programs and a focus on recruitment. They also acknowledge that the tight job market has contributed to enrollment, as more people head to school to make themselves more marketable.

That's a driving force behind enrollments up in graduate programs. Students with bachelor's degrees are heading straight into graduate programs because they can't find work, said Robert Sevier, senior vice president for strategy with Stamats, a higher education research and marketing company based in a Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"When the economy turns around, graduate enrollment will go down," Sevier predicts.

Ryan Rosensweig is working on a master's degree in design at the University of Cincinnati -- after he graduated with a bachelor's in business administration there in 2009.

"I left undergraduate school feeling confident that I was highly qualified to get a good job, especially with the leadership and co-op opportunities I had at UC, but I wasn't getting strong job offerings," Rosensweig said.

So, now he's hoping to explore new opportunities that combine business and design, and ultimately make him more marketable.

"As the economy falters and unemployment goes up or jobs are hard to find, people look for higher education and we see them returning to school or looking for colleges, but I don't think that's the only thing," said Jacqueline McMillan, Wright State's vice president for enrollment management.

She said Wright State has focused on populations that Ohio's higher education plan says will help the state reach its goal of 230,000 more enrollments by 2017. Those groups of potential students include military veterans and adult and transfer students.

Ohio's strategic plan focuses on education as the key to make the state and its students competitive, says Ohio Board of Regents spokesman Rob Evans. The board is seeing major increases at many campuses although all schools haven't reported back yet, he said.

"The economy has encouraged a lot of folks to go to school, and support from the institutions and from the state has made it possible for them to get in the door," Evans said.

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