Falling Enrollment: VSU sees second highest drop in state

Mar. 11—VALDOSTA — Enrollment at Valdosta State University is on a sharp decline.

Increasingly, students are rethinking the value of college, with a growing number of them questioning the return on investment.

Many Georgia colleges and universities have seen falling enrollment numbers, and VSU losses are among the most dramatic in the state.

With only about 7,500 undergraduates and 2,600 graduate students, VSU had the second highest drop in enrollment among state universities this year.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that between fall 2019 and fall 2022: Postsecondary institutions across the U.S. lost about 1.1 million students — or about 6% of total enrollment. Undergraduate student enrollment fell by more than 1.2 million students, or almost 8% of total enrollment.

Although, undergraduate enrollment was falling before the pandemic, remote learning nearly doubled the decrease in enrollment, with many students finding themselves disengaged.

One student's story

Students like Archanti Moore were greatly impacted by the pandemic during her years at Valdosta State University between fall 2020 and spring 2022.

Moore said during her four semesters at the university she had completed online, hybrid and traditional courses. Which could be a lot for incoming freshmen to adjust to without feeling the support of their adviser or university.

"I would use the student resources or go to my adviser but my first semester we had a temporary adviser and they did not check in with us," Moore said. "Once we had a permanent adviser it was too late. I already felt behind even though they would check in often."

She said many of her classes would range from 100 to 200 students, which is normal for first year learning. However, many of the professors were not able to offer the necessary one-on-one time due to effects of the pandemic or online courses.

"I am a learner that needs someone to support me because sometimes I struggle learning things fast," Moore said. "It wasn't really a one-on-one thing because we were either online or once we were face to face it was just so many people."

Now, Moore is attending an institution where she is able to visit with a student success coach weekly. She said she feels better supported and comfortable with her learning environment.

"VSU is a good school but if you are a difficult learner then I wouldn't recommend you attending," she said.

Second highest drop in Georgia

The University System of Georgia reported Valdosta State University had a 12.2% drop in enrollment from fall 2021 to fall 2022.

This is the second highest enrollment loss in the state following Clayton State at 12.6%.

VSU and Clayton are the only two USG schools with double-digit percentage decreases in enrollment. The other USG schools reported only single-digit percentages in enrollment losses.

Dr. Vince Miller, vice president for Student Affairs and Student Success, said, "Every comprehensive university in the University System of Georgia saw enrollment decreases except Kennesaw.

"Georgia Southern and West Georgia percent decrease was half of Valdosta State meaning some of VSU's decrease is to be expected and some part we possibly influenced ourselves," Miller said.

According to the university's data, enrollment of students from the Atlanta area is about half the number of Atlanta-based students enrolled at VSU 10 years ago. However, students enrolling from Florida has grown by 14%.

During the pandemic, many students chose to stay close to home or seek other places of living for the convenience, which greatly affected enrollment.

In comparison, the relaxation of institutional requirements caused an influx of applications and interest in the college experience, university officials said.

"In 2020-2022, we saw a significant enrollment growth of first-time, full-time freshmen. Like other institutions, COVID impacted us during that time and admissions criteria were relaxed due to high school students not being able to take ACT/SAT exams. High school students only needed a 2.6 GPA to enroll," Miller said.

He said when tests became available, admissions criteria went back into effect. Unless a student has a 3.2 HS GPA or better — those can be admitted without test scores.

While the pandemic mandated all grade levels be taught online for safety, many graduating high schoolers have only known online learning. Whereas the college experience does not offer the same kind of e-learning experience.

Miller said, "Our data currently shows traditional-aged, freshmen and sophomore students have higher persistence and retention rates at VSU if they have less than half of their semester classes online."

However, the enrollment issue does not only affect the university, but the community that employs, markets to, contributes to the success and livelihood of students off campus.

Average enrollment was about 11,500 for 2021. The USG does not specify if it takes into account that some students are on-campus and others are not when calculating student economic impact.

VSU economic impact

Dr. Cynthia R. Tori, Valdosta State University College of Business professor and Georgia economist, said, "total VSU economic impact on output was $404.3 million for FY 2021. Of the total, student spending accounted for $211.9 million, which is more than half of the total economic impact on output. Local student expenditures supported around 1,965 jobs in the greater Valdosta area community."

Which means, if face-to-face enrollment declines by one student, whether the student enrolls online but lives outside the greater Valdosta area or the student withdraws from VSU, the average total economic activity declines by $18,400 per student.

Data predicts that the support for one job is lost for every five students who move to online instruction and do not live in Valdosta or no longer enroll at VSU.

More than 10 years ago, the Carl Vinson Institute of Government predicted VSU would grow 3% every year.

At that time, VSU enrollment was 11,885, according to the USG.

"We do not know what those predictions were based on but they tended to not be accurate for a lot of USG institutions. We did see overall leveling off between 2015-19, relatively stable 11,000," Miller said. "As an institution, we are seeing a mix of student classes, total enrollment stayed relatively the same but the number of students enrolled in one or more online courses during that time did increase."

He said the university is hopeful with two areas primed for growth: graduate school enrollment online and targeting non-traditional adult learners with some college.

"VSU's number one goal is to help students graduate with a degree and provide them an opportunity to make a difference for themselves and their family. The data continues to show people with college degrees have a higher life-time earning and lower unemployment rates. VSU takes this life-changing responsibility seriously."

Seeking student engagement

Jalen Smith, Student Government associate president and VSU senior, said he feels many students chose to leave or go online due to the lack of community on campus due to the pandemic.

"Valdosta State is truly a community, which is why many students choose to attend or stay throughout their collegiate career," Smith said. "During fall 2020 to spring 2022, we struggled with virtual programming to create the VSTATE experience virtually."

He said the pandemic restricted student engagement even though the university had one of its largest freshman classes.

"We are known for having amazing engagement and academic affairs so I believe we lost a lot of students because they weren't being engaged," Smith said. "Whereas, other students transferred to VSU because of the community we have, professor-to-student ratio, being in charge of their own learning and the variety of experiences offered."

Since becoming SGA president in 2021, Smith has been intentional about engaging freshmen and sophomores, while addressing the concerns of the student body as a whole.

"Many of the students that came to Valdosta State during COVID didn't know how to integrate, so we have intentionally restructured to engage those groups by adding more social media programming — highlighting on campus programs and resources."

Smith added, "We also took the engagement to the next level by emerging SGA into campus experience and collaborating with other student organizations to engage all populations."

He said as a future alumnus of Valdosta State, he enjoys being able to share his story and experiences at the university with students who are interested in attending at multiple events and platforms.

"The VSU experience is not transactional, it is transformational. Which means, VSU is more concerned about what they can give to you than what they can get from you."

During the past four years, Smith has been a student assistant in the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, received internship opportunities, in addition to holding numerous Student Government Association positions.

"Those moments and experiences have helped me understand how valuable Valdosta State is.

Valdosta State has always been the undisputed best at changing lives and intentional in igniting excellence by teaching and molding transferable skills," Smith said. "I am extremely excited to become among the ranks of alumni who are doing amazing things."

University administration said beginning this spring there will be a deep internal review of enrollment data and practices. In addition, hiring of an outside group to evaluate student retention factors and provide the university with researched recommendations to help.

"There is no one single factor that influences success; it's a complex mix of institutional factors that help keep students engaged in learning and remain on track to earn their degree," Miller said.

"Everything from the on-campus experience, to advising, tutoring, counseling support. and especially how students receive and participate in course learning.

How you do that also varies whether it's undergraduate, fully online and graduate learning."

According to Valdosta State data, FY2022 total undergraduate enrollment was 7,589 and graduate enrollment 2,636. — Undergraduate: Face to face 2,949; hybrid 2,844; fully online 1,796. — Graduate: Face to face 224; hybrid 360; fully online 2,052.