ISU enrollment down 12.6%

Aug. 27—Indiana State University's enrollment this fall is 9,459, down 12.6% from fall 2020, the university announced Thursday.

It's not the kind of news a university wants to announce, but ISU has a plan to address its challenges.

"We're going to own this," said ISU President Deborah Curtis. "We've got work to do."

Part of the plan includes ISU's new Indiana State Advantage, a three-pronged guarantee starting with freshmen in fall 2022; another component is reaching out to the 700,000 Hoosiers with some college and no degree to offer them additional post-secondary education, potentially online.

A big reason for the enrollment downturn is the continuing impact of the pandemic. ISU draws many first-generation and Pell-eligible students who "are the most likely nationally to delay going to college," Curtis said.

Another factor nationally is that there are fewer 18-year-olds graduating from high school, especially in the Midwest. The "enrollment cliff" that had been predicted to arrive in 2025 has been "hastened by the pandemic environment," Curtis stated in a video to campus.

And, the state's flagship schools are enrolling students on their wait lists, students who in past years might have attended ISU or other institutions in the state.

"The important piece for us is — what are we going to do about it," Curtis said in an interview. "We have to turn it around."

Other enrollment data

ISU will have several hundred "dual-credit" high school students taking courses for college credit.

Following best practices, ISU eliminated dual-credit students from its enrollment count starting in fall 2020. In the fall 2018 and 2019 semesters, an average of 577 dual-credit students were counted.

ISU had a spring 2021 enrollment of 9,662, a number exacerbated by the pandemic.

Several programs posted an increase or maintained historic high demand this fall, including cyber criminology, elementary & secondary education, interior architectural design, math & computer science, and the MBA.

Enrollment in the Honors College remains strong and continues to represent about 10% of total enrollment.

Fall 2021 freshman enrollment was 1,434, down from 1,776 a year earlier.

Yet the high school grade point average of the fall 2021 freshmen was 3.29, the highest in at least 20 years. "High school GPA is the best predictor of success in college," said Jason Trainer, vice provost of enrollment management.

Overall, ISU has 2,526 new students — first-time freshmen, graduate students, and transfers.

ISU is pleased with some of the positive trends, Curtis said, but "enrollment is not where we need it to be ... recruiting and enrolling well prepared students to ISU is job one for everyone on campus."

The university has to adapt to changing demographics and attract traditional students as well as those with some college and no degree, she said. Looking to the future, "We want a robust, lively on-campus experience. But we're also going to be looking at more of that hybrid and online delivery of these programs that are distinctive" for those who can't come to campus.

Change must take place, she said. Articles about higher education indicate, "If people think you're going back to business as usual after this [pandemic], then you are mistaken."

Initiatives to boost growth

The Indiana State Advantage, announced earlier this month, is a three-pronged guarantee starting with freshmen in fall 2022. It includes a grant of up to $3,000 for an out-of-classroom educational experience for all on-campus first-time full-time students. That experience can include an internship, study abroad, research, or a service project.

In addition, Pell grant-eligible students from Indiana who qualify academically will have what amounts to free tuition, while those eligible are guaranteed the ability to graduate in four years or the rest of tuition is free.

The initiative involves a realignment of existing scholarship resources.

Enrollment declines in recent years are having a budget impact, particularly in terms of student tuition dollars. "This campus has stepped up and done the hard work we needed to do in the last couple of years ... to live within our means," Curtis said. "We've been very fortunate to minimally impact anyone currently working in a job."

Staff reductions "are never off the table," she said, but ISU's primary goal is to keep people employed. However, "We've got to turn those enrollment numbers around."

ISU has been able to make budget modifications through employee attrition, with several deciding last year to retire. At least partly in response to the pandemic, "We had quite a few people last year decide ... it was the right time to retire," Curtis said.

ISU's president said she is confident the university can reverse the downward enrollment trend.

"We're going to make this happen ... This institution through 150 years has sustained itself and we will now," she said. "We will do this."

Sue Loughlin can be reached at 812-231-4235 or at sue.loughlin@tribstar.com Follow Sue on Twitter @TribStarSue.