OU not alone in state in seeing enrollment growth

Ohio University is not the only school in the state that has experienced significant enrollment growth this year. Statewide, enrollment grew by 9.3 percent, according to a study released Wednesday by the Ohio Board of Regents.

This 9.3 percent growth is three times the growth the state saw in 2008-2009.

"The big thing that this shows is that education is still the best investment people can make," said Craig Cornell, OU's vice provost for enrollment management. "In this tight economy, people are still making the choice to get higher education."

Regional campuses and community colleges increased enrollment at an even faster rate than the state average, with university regional campuses seeing a 11.5 percent increase in students and community colleges seeing a 16.6 percent increase.

This past year, OU's Athens campus saw a 3.3 percent enrollment increase, adding some 681 new students, according to the study. Including OU's regional campuses, the university has seen a 2,000-student increase.

By 2017, the University Systems of Ohio's goal is to have 100,000 students enrolled in Ohio public colleges and universities. At 522,000, the state has a long way to go but is making progress, Evans said.

"The first goal in (Gov. Ted Strickland's) strategic plan is to enroll more students," said Rob Evans, a spokesperson with the Ohio Board of Regents. "It is key to attracting talent and creating an environment for homegrown economic development."

Since the fall of 2004, the state of Ohio has added some 65,000 students to its public universities. This year alone, the state saw an increase of 44,000 students.

The largest percentage increase in students occurred at Central State University, which saw 12.2 percent growth.

Only two main campuses, Miami University and Bowling Green State University, saw drops in their enrollment. Two regional campuses also saw drops in students, Bowling Green's Firelands Campus, and Ohio State University's Agricultural Technical Institute.

Every community college in the state saw an increase in enrollment. Hocking College saw a 12.1 percent increase in students, while many other community colleges had 30 to 40 percent increases.

The economy is a major driving factor in pushing more people to higher education, Evans said. Higher education can lead to more secure jobs, and many of the increases in enrollment are occurring at regional campuses and community colleges, where many adults are going back to school, Evans said.

"Generally when the economy is experiencing difficult times, people tend to look at additional educational opportunities to increase their skills," Cornell said. "It points towards a trend for retooling, re-educating and upping skills in a particular field."

Also, many other states are raising tuition at much higher rates than Ohio, where statewide tuition only increased by 1 percent, Evans said.

"Part of the unavoidable explanation is the commitment that Gov. (Ted) Strickland has shown in helping to keep tuition down at public colleges," Evans said. "In an economy where a lot of states are dealing with less resources, Ohio was able to make the commitment to keep tuition lower. Thanks to that we've been able to focus on affordability for the students."

While Ohio ranked 47th nationwide in its tuition increase, the state is still ranked among the highest in tuition. The good news is that the optional tuition freeze of the last two years has helped the state to drop from 12th to 14th in average tuition for public four-year colleges and universities ($8,146 for the current year, with OU's tuition at $8,907). That slide may stall, however, as a result of the freeze being removed in favor of tuition hikes up to 3.5 percent for the next two years.

The state is working to continue narrowing the distance between its average tuition and the national average (currently $7,020), Evans said.

Evans listed the growing popularity of online courses, improved retention programs, continued expansion of course offerings, expanded dual enrollment programs, and new degree and certificate offerings as other reasons for the growth.

While it is difficult to quantify, Cornell suggested that more students may be staying in-state to save money as well.

With increased student populations across the state, Evans said the state is looking at some possible changes to the Ohio College Opportunity Grant (OCOG), the state's major financial-aid program. While no definite changes have been made, Evans said the state will look at ways to help drive student enrollment through financial aid. Some states have begun growing financial aid as students continue their enrollment, helping to increase retention and enrollment rates, Evans said.

"Our guiding principle in looking at the OCOG program is that we need to make it as targeted and as effective as it can possibly be," Evans said.

Evans also cited the federal Pell Grant increase as an important contribution to student financial aid.

OU's enrollment grew in mainly targeted areas like nursing, a program just added this year. The university hopes to continue its enrollment growth in the coming years, with much of the growth targeted toward the regional campuses.