Clarion Enrollment Down Six Percent For Year; Officials Look For Silver Lining In Figures

Ron Wilshire

Ron Wilshire

Published October 19, 2015 4:40 am
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CLARION, Pa. (EYT) — Newly released Clarion University official enrollment figures show a six percent decrease in total headcount enrollment for 2015, but university officials are finding some bright spots in the figures.

Total university headcount enrollment stands at 5,368, down 344 students from last year at this time. Officials still feel enrollment is stabilizing and following state trends after a steady decline since 2010. Total enrollment in 2010 was 7,315; 6,991 in 2011; 6,520 in 2012; 6,080 in 2013; 5,712 in 2014, and 5,368 in 2015 for a 27.9 percent decrease over that period.

Total university full-time equivalent enrollment (FTE), an average between full-time and part-time students, shows a decrease of 6.3 percent for a total FTE enrollment of 4,390 in a more accurate picture of enrollment.

Undergraduate enrollment showed a decrease of 7.3 percent, with a total headcount of 4,572 students.

Making enrollment figures a bit more confusing is the fact that approximately 22 percent of that enrollment or 1,192 students are on-line students and not necessarily living in the Clarion area.  Clarion University is winning recognition for the quality of its on-line programs, and these students pay tuition and some fees, but undergraduates on-line do not pay an activity fee that fuels student activities.  Officials could not provide a breakdown on where or which campus the on-line enrollment is credited.

“The size of fulltime new freshmen pursuing bachelor degree classes is essentially unchanged from last year and viewed as a positive move and changes in our enrollment trend,” said David Love, director of marketing and communication. “They are also better-prepared freshmen this year with higher high school GPAs and higher SAT scores.  Our best indicator of student success is high school GPA, so this bodes well for continued increases in retention.”

Love also indicated the drops in Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classes were due to smaller classes over the past several years, but there was no change in retention rates.

Data also shows growth in some areas such as education, nursing, and finance.  According to Love, a new nutrition and fitness degree program met a first-year enrollment goal.  New degrees attracting students include a Doctor of Nursing Practice, BSBA in Paralegal Studies, BS in Sport Management, MS in Applied Data Analytics, BS in Criminal Justice Administration, and an MS in Accounting approved this month.

First Time In College (FTIC) students, usually freshmen, showed a decrease of 5.4 percent in the number of full-time students and an 18.6 percent decrease in the number of new part-time students for a total of a 7.5 percent drop in FDIC students. This semester there are 1,090 new full-time students and 175 part-time students for a total of 1,265 new students. The figures also show a 14.1 percent drop in the number of new transfer students.

“The FTIC bachelor-seeking students are essentially unchanged from last year,” said Love.  “In other freshmen, the largest drop is due to fewer associate degree students, with a drop of 75 students and fewer undecided majors (43).  In the case of undecided students, we are emphasizing new opportunities for undecided students.  Some associate degree students that were admitted as associate students may have been admitted elsewhere into bachelor programs.”

A look at the Clarion campus undergraduate headcount shows a total of 3,874 students enrolled, and a total graduate head count of 675 students.  Total headcount at the Clarion Campus includes 3,545 full-time students and 1,004 part-time students for a total of 4,549 students.

Venango College also shows decreases

Larger percentages of enrollment decreases were also reported at Venango College in Oil City and a Pittsburgh site. Total enrollment headcount for Venango/Pittsburgh includes a 23 percent drop in full-time enrollment, a 1 percent increase in part-time students for a 10.4 percent drop.  Venango enrollment now stands at 819 students.

Total Venango/Pittsburgh FTE enrollment was reported at 492.2 students or a 15.6 percent drop from last year at this time.

Distance education or on-line program enrollment was virtually the same as last year, with a total of 1,192 students as opposed to 1,191 students last year. There are a total of 609 undergraduate students and 583 graduate students.

Turnaround coming?

While enrollment for the 2015-16 academic year stands at 5,368 and a six percent drop, Clarion University Provost Ron Nowaczyk said a 6.7 percent was projected and used to plan budgets for the year.

“Clarion’s enrollment numbers are down while we continue to have larger classes graduating that have been replaced with smaller classes,” said Nowaczyk. “While the big drops happened in previous years, we’ll still see some of that effect for the next couple of years.”

Love said there is more work to do.

“Despite years of hard work on the part of many at Clarion, while Fall 2015 saw promising increases in specific areas of our enrollment, we did not achieve a complete turnaround,” said Love.  “There is yet more work to achieve on our enrollment goals.”

Other plans to increase revenues and enrollment include:

• Continue to make the case to the state that there should be a reinvestment of state funds to Clarion, and in particular, the state should insure the funding support of all mandated expenses such as labor union contracted expenses; employee health benefits and pension expenses should be explicitly funded by the state to ensure their continuation.

• The Provost, Deans and Department Chairs are setting specific enrollment targets– both recruitment of new students and retention of current students — by academic credentials and will monitor very closely progress to achieving targets for spring 2016, summer 2016, and fall 2016.

• Drastic reductions in state funding and rising costs have pushed Clarion to find innovative ways to generate more revenue.  The President is appointing a task force to review tuition and fees to ensure that we offer a competitive price to students, while also maximizing revenue.

• Clarion has already reduced expenses during the current year of nearly $2 million in budget savings and will continue to look for cost savings.

• Each budget unit is meeting with the CFO to review their budget to further determine funds that can be removed to achieve additional reduction of costs.

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