EMU fall enrollment drops Cuts could be necessary to offset lost revenue

Thursday, October 28, 2004

BY JANET MILLER

News Staff Reporter

An unexpected drop in enrollment at Eastern Michigan University could mean another round of cuts as the university looks for ways to make up the $1.5 million revenue shortfall the decline has caused.

Instead of a 1 percent increase in enrollment EMU expected this fall, there was a 2.2 percent decline. Factoring out graduate students, undergraduate enrollment took an even steeper tumble, a 3.6 percent drop.

Most of the loss was within the freshman class, said Courtney McAnuff, vice president for enrollment services. "We didn't expect this. It's a disappointment," he said.

Enrollment stands at 23,593 this fall, fairly steady over the last five years, but a drop from 24,129 last year and from the five-year high of 24,195 in fall 2002.

There's a handful of possible reasons for the decline, McAnuff said:

The University of Michigan and Michigan State University have unusually large freshmen classes this fall, robbing students that could have attended EMU and the other regional universities. "The U-M and MSU are our major competition," McAnuff said.

nIn an effort to balance its budget, EMU cut student recruitment and marketing funds last fall. That won't happen again, McAnuff said.

nThe negative publicity over the $6.1 million University House and the departure of President Samuel Kirkpatrick could have played a role, McAnuff said. "The negative publicity may have hurt the freshman class, especially when the quality of the residence halls was raised. The issue certainly didn't help us."

International enrollment continues to fall as foreign students have trouble getting visas from the State Department.

If Eastern isn't able to recover the $1.5 million in lost tuition dollars in the winter and spring semesters, cuts will need to be made from the $204 million budget, said John Beaghan, interim vice president for business and finance. A decision on cuts will come in the next couple of months, he said. "We're looking at everything," he said.

McAnuff said efforts have been put in place to stop the enrollment decline. The university will spend $300,000 more on recruiting and marketing this year. A second position to recruit students in Ohio was created, and there will be several mailings to targeted students. Last year, McAnuff said, there was only a single mailing. "More students are getting many more pieces of information from us this year," he said.

Eastern is already seeing results, McAnuff said. Applications from high school seniors are up 45 percent from a year ago, he said.

Eastern is not the only school with declining enrollment, said Michael Boulus, executive director of Presidents Council, State Universities of Michigan. Six of the state's 15 universities recorded a drop in headcount this fall, he said, including Ferris, Lake Superior, Northern, Western and Michigan Technical as well at EMU.

Overall, enrollment at state universities is flat this fall, putting the brakes on eight straight years of enrollment growth, Boulus said.

Boulus blamed the cuts in state appropriations coupled with the state cap on tuition. Universities, Boulus said, are turning students away. Tuition alone does not cover all the costs. "The schools have two choices: To cut quality or to cut size," Boulus said.

In the past three years, he said, the state has cut nearly $250 million in appropriations from state universities. "The state has cut appropriations and capped tuition, leaving universities with the inability to respond to market needs," Boulus said.

EMU has not placed a cap on enrollment, McAnuff said, except for specific programs such as nursing. In fact, EMU had to turn away 130 nursing students this year because the program was full, McAnuff said.

The University of Michigan saw record-breaking enrollment this fall. An unexpectedly large freshman class helped U-M see a 1.3 percent overall increase in enrollment. U-M enrollment this fall totals 39,533 students.

Janet Miller can be reached at jmiller@annarbornews.com or (734) 994-6827.