|
|
 |
 |
Dayton Daily News
Universities fear
effects of drop in Ohio high school grads
UD, WSU, Miami try to diversify student bodies, extend outreach,
programs
By Max Filby - Staff Writer
December 26, 2016
The number of Ohio high school graduates is expected to decline by more
than 13,000 over the next 15 years, a shift universities have been
trying to head off for nearly a decade but one officials fear could
damage college enrollments and budgets.
Nationally, high school grads will decline by 140,000 over the same
period, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher
Education, which released a report this month detailing the trend. By
2032, the decrease in Ohio high school grads is expected to surpass the
number of students that make up the undergraduate student bodies at
Wittenberg University, the University of Dayton and Wright State.
Enrollment is the main revenue source for most universities, meaning
the looming drop in high school grads could result in less money an
institution would have to spend and could mean increases in student
tuition.
“Enrollment drives everything good at the university,” said Doug
Fecher, chairman of the finance committee for WSU’s board of trustees.
“That’s why a student should care…if enrollment drops then resources
become smaller and it makes it more difficult to do things.”
A slump in state funding for higher education, officials said, means
colleges have become increasingly dependent on tuition dollars. The
state contributed around $5,078 per college student in 2015, close to
$2,000 less than the national average. On average, tuition and student
fees make up more than a fifth of revenue at four-year public colleges
and around a third of revenue at private universities, according to the
Chronicle of Higher Education.
“Just like most institutions, we are driven off of tuition revenue
students provide,” Reinoehl said. “It’s a significant portion of the
overall operation.”
Ohioans make up around 80 percent of all Miami University students, 87
percent of Wright State’s students, and 71 percent of Wittenberg’s
students, meaning the three schools stand to lose the most tuition
dollars of any Dayton-area university. Miami and WSU officials though
said their student body diversity, outreach and unique offerings
stabilize their enrollment.
“Any institution dependent on tuition revenue must do some
forecasting,” said Susan Schaurer, assistant vice president for
enrollment management at Miami. “We have a responsibility to the
institution to be strategic and to forecast what’s coming down the road.
The University of Dayton is likely to fare the best as just 48 percent
of its students hail from Ohio. UD enrollment management vice president
Jason Reinoehl credited former UD President Dan Curran for the
enrollment make-up.
“I would say we feel blessed to be where we are on this,” said
Reinoehl. “Leadership is very important on this. (Dan) Curran was very
attune to enrollment trends. I can’t say enough how important that is.”
Universities are competitive when it comes to enrollment which
officials said has led to little collaboration to try to solve the
problems arising from a decline in high school grads.
At the Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education, there is a group
focused on almost everything except enrollment, said president Sean
Creighton. As high school grads start to decrease though, Creighton
said SOCHE will likely form some sort of task force to address
enrollment.
Fecher has proposed Wright State create its own enrollment task force
as it’s the revenue source the university can control.
“The only lever you really have to pull at the university is the
enrollment lever,” Fecher said. “You need to drive enrollment up and if
that supply of high school seniors is going to drop then it becomes
more and more competitive to bring those students to school.”
Read the rest of this article, and others, at Dayton Daily News
|
|
|
|
