Kansas' colleges, universities continue to see downward enrollment spiral — with a few exceptions
Enrollment in Kansas’ public universities and colleges continues a worrying downward trend that started before COVID-19 but surged as more teenagers have pursued other options after high school.
Headcount enrollment, or the raw number of individual students across the Kansas Board of Regents system, decreased by 1% overall, according to the Regents’ count of students on the 20th day of classes released Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, full-time equivalent enrollment — calculated by dividing the total number of credit hours taken by 15 hours for undergraduates and 15 for graduate students — fell by a slightly lower amount of 0.9%.
In a statement, Regents chair Jon Rolph, Wichita CEO of the Thrive Restaurant Group, said the board acknowledges the declines but is working as a system to reverse the trend.
“Our system is taking decisive action to reverse declining enrollments, better serve students and ensure that our state has the workforce needed to grow the Kansas economy,” Rolph said. “Initiatives such as our general education package and implementation of student success initiatives will help our system serve and graduate more students.”
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Kansas' public research universities take enrollment hit, but not equally
Enrollment at the six public universities — Emporia State, Fort Hays State, Kansas State, Pittsburg State, the University of Kansas and Wichita State — fell to a headcount of 88,414 this fall, or a 1% decline of 1,333 students.
At the flagship University of Kansas, overall enrollment fell only slightly by 47 to a headcount of 27,638 students. Excluding gains at the University of Kansas Medical Center — which tends to have more stable enrollment given its post-graduate, medical focus — enrollment at KU otherwise fell by 86 students, or 0.4%.
Still, KU officials noted the university has a huge freshman class, second only to the first-year class of 2008. Chancellor Douglas Girod said the university was glad to see the class contribute to a relatively steady student body size.
“These enrollment numbers demonstrate that talented students from across the state and nation see the benefit of attending a leading public research university like KU to prepare for their lives and careers,” Girod said. “Additionally, these enrollment numbers speak volumes of the work our faculty and staff do to recruit and retain talented students, especially during the uncertainties of the pandemic in recent years.”
Similarly, Kansas State University also reported an increase of 2.1% in its new student enrollment, although overall enrollment — including the K-State College of Veterinary Medicine — fell 2.5% to 19,722 across the university’s campuses. The decline was uneven, though, as a 4.4% decline in Manhattan more than offset gains of 7.3%, 2.4% and 5.8% at K-State’s Salina, Olathe and online campuses, respectively.
Provost Charles Taber pointed out the university had also graduated record numbers of students in the past few years. New student enrollment gains are significant for universities looking to break a trend of declining enrollment.
But the key for university officials will be to figure out how to keep students engaged and on-track to graduate, as many may opt to instead pursue jobs that don't need degrees or credentials and have begun paying higher wages in the wake of a highly competitive job marker.
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Wichita State University, on the other hand, was the sole university with appreciable, year-over-year growth, both in headcount and full-time equivalent enrollment. Headcount enrollment surged to 16,921, or a 5% increase from fall 2021 and a 12.2% increase from fall 2017.
President Richard Muma credited the success in student recruitment to a focus on affordable and accessible education, as well as collaborative efforts with WSU Tech, which is affiliated with Wichita State but functions as its own technical school.
“Even with the challenges brought on by the pandemic and the economy, Wichita State University continues to make a difference in the lives of an increasing number of students and their families,” Muma said.
Kansas' regional universities are under particular enrollment stress
Headcount enrollment at the state's regional universities — Emporia State, Fort Hays State and Pittsburg State — fell by 5.2%, 8.2% and 2.6% respectively.
Each is significantly down compared to 2017, with Pittsburg State decreasing 5,858 students, the first time the university has been under 6,000 students since at least 2005, the latest year for which data is readily available.
Fort Hays State, the state university with the lowest tuition, lost more than 1,100 students and dropped to a headcount of 12,951.
Notably, Emporia State continued an enrollment decline that President Ken Hush had pointed to in his decision earlier this month to radically restructure the university — cutting several humanities programs and axing tenure for more than 30 professors. Nearly 300 fewer students are attending the university this year. However, university officials said they had expected the decrease and noted an overall 10% increase in new freshmen and graduate students this year.
Washburn University, also a public institution but funded municipally, declined to 6,607 students across the institution, or about 4.1% fewer. Washburn is also unique in that it also administers its own technical school, which this year enrolled 1,147 students, or 7% fewer than last fall.
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Kansas’ technical colleges see enrollment surges, while community colleges struggle
Across six technical colleges — Flint Hills, Manhattan Area, North Central Kansas, Northwest Kansas, Salina Area and WSU Tech — headcount enrollment passed 10,000 for the first time, representing an increase of 6% over last year and 15.8% since 2017.
One school, Flint Hills Technical College, grew by nearly 18% since fall 2021, adding nearly 250 students to its headcount.
The increases have been buoyed by a bigger focus on technical education, trade skills and certification from K-12 and higher education officials.
Meanwhile, community college enrollment has yet to rebound from a slump that began before COVID but drastically accelerated during the first year of pandemic-era education. Kansas’ 19 community colleges had enrolled 57,700 students in fall 2019 but dropped to 58,148 in the first semester back from early pandemic shutdowns.
Enrollment only slightly recovered the year after, but this year trended downward again to 60,107, or 15.5% fewer students than in fall 2017.
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News comes as Emporia State cuts programs, lays off faculty
The news comes amid a firestorm at Emporia State, where the university has laid off faculty and cut programs, with KBOR's blessing. The move was intended to avoid financial crisis, President Ken Hush has said, but it has been panned by faculty groups and other observers.
A broader analysis of degree programs at the state's four-year universities is also underway, with results to be released later this year. Sen. Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg, said this would be instructive on future actions taken by the universities.
"With the exception, I would say, of the strong ag programs and the veterinary science programs t K State, most of the other offerings can be found at most all of our region's institutions," she said. "And so I think there's going to be honing in on that ... and I think that that will guide some future decisions within higher education."
Higher education has seen a funding bump in recent years at the Statehouse, though it came amid the turbulent COVID-19 pandemic and after years of cuts to public funding for the state's colleges and universities.
The Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly increased the universities' operating budgets by $37.5 million, as well as directed federal COVID-19 aid to the four-year institutions, as well as community and technical colleges. Kelly also rejected a proposal that would have allowed the schools to raise tuition.
Still, a report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, a left-leaning think tank, found that public funding for higher education in Kansas declined by 22.5% between 2008 and 2018.
"That shifts the burden to the students and families, and that's a real problem," former Kansas State President Richard Myers said in 2019. "And it's going to create a situation where you have the haves and have nots, and that's not good for a state."
But Baumgardner noted increased investment has occurred — and said she was dissatisfied that universities didn't take the enrollment threat seriously until recently.
"The funding has been there, it has gone to these institutions, and yet they are serving fewer students than last year for the most part, and absolutely less than they were serving five years ago," Baumgardner said. "I think we've got some fresh new eyes looking at things at at least three of our regents institutions (Emporia State, Pittsburg State and Kansas State). And so they will be looking at new and different approaches. But they all of them know that the pressure is on them to turn the ships around."
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas college, university enrollment continues decline in fall 2022
