Savannah State, Savannah Tech, GS Armstrong campus see small dip in fall 2021 enrollment

For fall 2021, Savannah State University, the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University, and Savannah Technical College all saw small decreases in student enrollment, but not as much as the schools did for fall 2020.

Across the state there was an overall decrease in student enrollment for fall 2021, according to a statement from the University System of Georgia, which oversees Georgia Southern and Savannah State, among others. There are currently 340,638 students enrolled at institutions in Georgia, which is a 2% decrease from fall 2020, based on a school enrollment report that was released in November 2021 from from the University System of Georgia.

Savannah State

At Savannah State, enrollment for fall 2021 was 3,395, which was a 2.7% decrease from the fall 2020 enrollment of 3,488.

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“It has been a challenge, and no one was predicting the pandemic and the impact it would have on the students on the campus, so we did have to transition quickly to online delivery for instruction," said Raymond Clarke, vice president of enrollment at Savannah State, a historically black university (HBCU).

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Clarke said historically the school has had decreases in student enrollment, but the decline for fall 2021 wasn't as low as what it was before and during the pandemic. He said the school was optimistic about the numbers.

The Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern saw a decrease in student enrollment for fall 2021. Overall George Southern University system saw an increase in student enrollment for fall 2021.
The Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern saw a decrease in student enrollment for fall 2021. Overall George Southern University system saw an increase in student enrollment for fall 2021.

“It was not as large as we preliminarily thought it would be," he said. Clarke said other factors could have contributed to enrollment declines, including school and work balance and affordability.

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In-state undergraduate tuition is $2,540 and out-of-state is $9,241 based on 16 credit hours or more at Savannah State. In-state tuition for graduate students is $2,343 and out-of-state is $3,262.

“All schools have experienced some sort of decline,” he said.

Savannah State University President Kimberly Ballard-Washington talks about enrollment at the school for fall 2021.
Savannah State University President Kimberly Ballard-Washington talks about enrollment at the school for fall 2021.

He said the school’s priority right now is to stabilize enrollment at the school. Clarke said the school doesn’t want to expand too quickly because the school might not be prepared for an influx of students.

“As much as we want to grow, we also want to reclaim the students we may have lost due to the pandemic," he said.

Savannah State President Kimberly Ballard-Washington said there was a big decrease in enrollment from fall 2019 to fall 2020 because of the pandemic.

“Most universities, not all universities, are seeing a decrease in enrollment," she said. “We expect that we will be able to bounce back, and we can attract students."

Ballard-Washington said the school wants enrollment to level off. She said the school is working with the marketing team in ways to recruit more students, but she did not elaborate.

The school did see a larger freshman class, she said, but determined that a lot of students who went home during the pandemic didn't return to campus.

Besides the pandemic, other issues that would have contributed to enrollment would be the college experience.

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“Attending an HBCU, you are expected to be engaged differently than you would at a PWI (predominantly white institution),” she said. “When we can’t engage with our students in that fashion (online), we can’t have the mentoring relationships that we are accustomed to having here with us. We are not serving them the best way possible and are less likely to return because they are not getting the reason why they chose us."

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Ballard-Washington said a lot of students look forward to in-person celebrations like homecoming. She hopes the school can have in-person recruitment, but did not go into detail where events will take place.

“We did expect a significant drop in enrollment due to the pandemic,“ she said. "We were equally glad that it wasn’t any lower than it is. We are so happy that we had so many students return."

She said growth will have to be controlled.

“We have some room for growth, but we controlled growth so that we can be ready for an influx, and so that we can be able to continue serving students in the way we want to.”

She didn't provide a number of what a stable student population looks like.

In order to increase enrollment, Ballard-Washington said some of her goals would be to increase scholarship opportunities for students and through recruitment.

Savannah Tech

For Savannah Technical College, enrollment has been increasing and decreasing over the past six years. Based on fall 2021 preliminary numbers total enrollment was 3,623.

The numbers are preliminary as of November 2021.

Compared to fall 2020, the school had an decrease of 26 students for fall 2021 or a 0.72% decrease.

Savannah Tech President Kathy Love said the school saw the biggest decrease from fall 2019 to fall 2020. Student enrollment decreased from 4,003 in fall 2019 to 3,649 in fall 2020, an 8.8% drop.

Love said enrollment at the school has been flat and wants to keep it on a steady path. Love declined to go into detail.

“We are actively trying to recruit students who might have left us because of COVID," she said.

Love said in relation to enrollment, the school saw an increase of new students, but there was a decrease in returning students. The school is activity recruiting students who might not have decided to come back.

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“New students are replacing those that may not come back," she said.

At the start of fall 2020, the school had 146 fewer students in duel enrollment than in fall 2019. Compared to fall 2020, the school gained 21 duel enrollment students in fall 2021.

Love said the decrease can be due to schools being closed because of the pandemic, so high school school students were unable to take duel enrollment classes with Savannah Tech.

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She said another issue effecting enrollment are working parents who had to stay at home and take care of a child because of the pandemic.

“The only option [for the student] was to stay home," she said, because of the pandemic.

Love said enrollment could also have been impacted by course offerings. She said the commercial truck driving program was impacted by the pandemic because there weren’t enough instructors and trucks for students.

Georgia Southern

Overall, all-campus enrollment for Georgia Southern for the fall 2021 enrollment numbers show 27,091 students enrolled, an increase of 142 students or a 0.5% increase from fall 2020.

For fall 2020, overall enrollment at all Georgia Southern campuses was 26,949, a increase of 895 students from fall 2019. In fall 2019, overall student enrollment for all campuses was 26,054.

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Overall enrollment at the Armstrong campus was:

  • Fall 2021 had an 5,121 students enrolled and was a decrease of 127 students from fall 2020.

  • Fall 2020 had 5,248 students enrolled and was a decrease of 30 students from fall 2019.

  • Fall 2019 had 5,278 students enrolled.

Scot Lingrell, vice for enrollment management at the Georgia Southern campus, said overall the University System of Georgia enrollment went up, but specifically at the Armstrong campus there was a 2.4% decrease.

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He also said when students graduate at higher rates, it plays a role in the enrollment numbers because students who were part of the enrollment left the school.

“When you graduate at a higher percent, it effects enrollment,” he said. “Nothing is of concern."

He said the school enrollment numbers of first-time, dual enrollment, international and graduate students saw an increase.

He said when the economy is good, college enrollment usually goes down.

“Enrollment is the effect of everybody involved in the institution,” he said.

Bianca Moorman is the education reporter. Reach her at BMoorman@gannett.com or 912-239-7706. Find her on Twitter @biancarmoorman.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah State, Armstrong and Savannah Tech see decrease in enrollment