Four-Year College Enrollment on the Rise

Enrollment numbers for Arkansas’ four-year state colleges were released recently, and more than half posted gains.

Shane Broadway, interim director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, said the overall gain was the result of several factors.

“Certainly for the last number of years the emphasis has been on encouraging students to attend college,” he said.

“According to everything we see and read from The Economist and everybody else, a huge percentage of jobs in the future will require something beyond high school. People wanting to have a house, a boat, a car — all the things you dream of — the likelihood of being able to afford that is somewhat based on the education level you attained.”

He said ADHE is encouraging many students to select majors in what the department calls “STEM,” or science, technology, engineering and math.

“We certainly try to advocate students trying to look at those types of fields,” he said. “They tend to be a little more recession-proof.”

For the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, medical fields tend to be the biggest areas, according to Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment.

“People have to go to the doctor, hospital, whatever,” she said. “Nursing fields are just booming. Psychology is a booming field as well.”

The second factor involves increasing availability of financial aid.

“We’ve seen a growth in enrollment, specifically at four-year institutions, enhanced by lottery dollars and the Academic Challenge Program,” Broadway said, referring to a scholarship offered by ADHE. He added that 31,000 students currently are taking advantage of the Academic Challenge scholarship.

Finally, the rough economy has propelled many job seekers out of the work force and back into school.

Some Report Losses

Most colleges showed bumps in enrollment, but a few stayed flat or decreased. The University of Central Arkansas in Conway, in particular, showed a loss of more than 600 students since fall 2009. This number, however, might reflect something other than enrollment trends.

“UCA is kind of a correction back from the days of Lu Hardin,” Broadway said. “A lot of those numbers were high school students they were counting. A lot of UCA’s drop in enrollment is not a true picture; it’s making sure enrollment numbers were correct. They haven’t really seen a drop-off.”

A big drop-off was seen at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which has been shedding students for the last several years. Currently, UAPB has fewer students than it did in 2005.

Broadway said this doesn’t reflect on UAPB, but is a matter of demographics.

“Most of the institutions reflect census numbers,” Broadway said. “It follows population trends.”

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock hit 13,000 students in fall 2009 and has since hovered around that number, said Judy Williams, director of communications for UALR. Now, UALR is focused more on retaining and graduating students.

Meanwhile, the state’s biggest college is almost ready for a break. The UA saw 23,199 students enroll for its fall 2011 semester, and McCray said the college will likely hold off on recruitment at about 25,000.

She noted the college is comfortable in terms of dormitory space and she hopes to see future growth coming from retained students rather than larger freshman classes.