University reports enrollment drop

FAYETTEVILLE — A decrease of less than 1% in total enrollment at the University of Arkansas — the first dip since the 1990s for a school once among the fastest-growing nationally — can be explained by a decline in the size of the freshman class and improved four-year graduation rates, the university’s top admissions official said.

UA’s fall enrollment of 27,559 is down from 27,778 students last year, as of the 11th class day.

The change comes in part because of an about 8% decline in the freshman class, said Suzanne McCray, UA’s vice provost for enrollment management and dean of admissions.

“We’ve prepared for it and planned for it from a budget

point-of-view,” McCray said.

Preliminary total enrollment also dipped for some of the state’s other large universities, including Arkansas State University and the University of Central Arkansas.

For UA, several reasons contributed to the freshman class shrinking to 4,601 compared with 5,005 a year ago, McCray said.

“There are a variety of things. Demographic changes in the state and the region have changed,” McCray said.

By the numbers, students from outside Arkansas declined the most among firstyear students, to 2,172 “domestic non-Arkansans” this fall compared with 2,465 last year, McCray said. Slightly more than half of the freshman class, 2,382, or 52%, are Arkansans, McCray said. Last year, the freshman class included 2,494 Arkansans, McCray said.

The UA’s recent enrollment gains — with the number of students increasing by 50% from fall 2005 to fall 2015 — came about in large part because of greater enrollment of out-of-state students, mostly from Texas. Bloomberg reported this year among socalled “flagship” universities, UA had the greatest percentage growth in full-time enrollment from 2007 to 2016.

McCray said she didn’t have a state-by-state breakdown for the freshman class, but she said recruiting students is competitive. She said demographic changes nationally — in particular in the northeast, where published reports have described an expected decline in the collegegoing population — also mean schools from out-ofstate will likely in the future try to lure away students from Arkansas.

At UA, “we’re adding new scholarship dollars so that we can continue to be a best buy for our in-state students and also continue to attract high-achieving students who contribute to our university and are from out-of-state,” McCray said.

The university on Wednesday announced $5 million was being added to the school’s scholarship budget to create 1,100 scholarship awards for the 2020 recruiting cycle; the announcement said the scholarships were being paid for “from other parts of the university budget.”

UA’s undergraduate total of 23,025 students decreased 1.5% from 23,386 students a year ago, according to university data. Along with announcing enrollment, UA described improvement in its four-year graduation rate.

“The four-year graduation rate increased from 42.1% to 51.8%, in just four years. This means we are really making progress on students graduating on time, and thus taking on less debt,” Jim Coleman, UA’s executive vice chancellor and provost, said. The 51.8% rate is based on 4,871 students, according to a UA report not yet updated with the latest graduation rate.

The rate four years earlier — 42.1% — was based on 4,414 students. McCray said more on-time graduates affects the student population.

“It’s a thing to celebrate, and it also moves people on, so you’re going to have fewer people in your enrollment total,” McCray said.

Chancellor Joe Steinmetz said the new $5 million in scholarships “will expand our efforts” to improve retention and graduation rates.

The university reported a 66.2% six-year graduation rate, up from 65.5%. The 66.2% is based on 4,300 students, according to the UA report not yet updated. The 65.5% rate was based on 4,550 students.

While undergraduate enrollment dipped compared with last year, enrollment in UA’s Graduate School increased by 146 students to 4,170, the university said. Strengthening graduate education is one of the stated priorities for the university under Steinmetz, who took over as chancellor in January 2016.

UA is by far Arkansas’ largest university, but some — if not all — other large schools also reported enrollment declines.

Arkansas State University reported 1,391 first-time students, down 174 from last fall, a decline of about 11%.

Total enrollment, excluding ASU’s Mexico campus, fell to 13,356 this fall compared with 13,709 last fall, a decline of about 2.6%.

Chancellor Kelly Damphousse said a decreasing college-going rate of high school graduates in Arkansas has affected colleges statewide. ASU also reported a double-digit percentage decrease in its international student enrollment.

“The demand is there, but many of the students we admitted were not able to get student visas,” Damphousse said.

Arkansas Tech University reported an incoming freshman class of 1,726 for its Russellville campus, a 21.7% increase compared with 1,418 a year ago, said Sam Strasner, Arkansas Tech spokesman. The 1,726 is the largest for the Russellville campus, according to the university.

But total enrollment fell slightly, down to 9,709 compared with 9,968 last year. Chancellor Robin Bowen said efforts to help students succeed academically have resulted “in a shorter period of time to graduation for our students,” leading to the enrollment decrease.

“The overall headcount enrollment decrease is attributable to our intentional efforts to help students achieve their academic goals on an efficient, condensed timeline,” Bowen said.

The University of Central Arkansas reported a freshman class of 1,840 students, down from 2,033. Enrollment for the Conway campus dipped to 10,870.

Based on state Division of Higher Education data showing a total headcount of 11,177 students at UCA, enrollment fell 2.8%.

“Enrollment numbers are important, but they can fluctuate with the number of graduating high school seniors and trends in unemployment rates,” UCA President Houston Davis said.