Enrollment
down for Fall

By TYLER JOHNSON
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

For the first time since 1998, enrollment is down at SUU by more than 100 students.
Two-hundred and fourteen fewer students are enrolled this semester compared to fall semester a year ago, President Steven D. Bennion said. The downturn translated into about a 3.5 percent loss of population.
The loss of enrollment numbers is surprising to many because of the slump in the economy, Dean O’Driscoll, assistant to the president for university relations, said in a press release. When the economy is suffering, enrollment numbers usually increase.
Bennion said this year’s loss of numbers is most likely a combination of different factors.
SUU is a residential campus, Bennion said. Because Cedar City is not near many other cities, most SUU students don’t have the option of living at home and commuting; they are forced to pay for living expenses in addition to their schooling.
O’Driscoll said schools in northern Utah have increased enrollment this year because more students can live at home, which makes college attendance cheaper.
Schools in other rural areas, like Snow College, are also experiencing losses in enrollment this year, O’Driscoll said.
Another financial problem students are experiencing stems from low wages in Cedar City. Many students struggle to afford all of the many expenses associated with school, Bennion said.
To help students afford living in Cedar City while they attend school, the members of the administration decided to create 100 additional jobs on campus this year in various departments throughout the campus.
“(These jobs have) been a relief on both sides,” O’Driscoll said.
Offering students jobs has given much needed help to the university and has provided students with extra cash, he said.
Another reason Bennion said the enrollment numbers are low is because of the passed reisdency requirement bill that passed this year. This bill requires students to complete 60 credit hours before gaining residency status.
A lot of students who live out of state and have not completed 60 credit hours opted not to attend SUU because of the high cost, Bennion said.
Scholarship dollars are down at the school because of the suffering economy, which also plays a role in detouring students from SUU, Bennion said.
SUU has stayed fairly
constant over the last 11 years, averaging a 3.98 percent increase in enrollment since 1991.
During that time, the numbers fell only twice; once in 1998 (loss of 282 students) and in 2000 (loss of 62 students).
In other academic years, the number of students at SUU has increased by as much as 481 students each semester.
O’Driscoll said he is concerned but optimistic about future semesters and hopes this semester’s decrease isn’t the start of a downward trend.
To help avert a further decrease in enrollment, O’Driscoll volunteered to lead a new committee formed this year, designed to focus on increasing recruitment and retention efforts.
Members of the committee are currently conducting the following four research projects: focusing on transfer students who are not coming to SUU, finding out if the scholarship weekends are

DAVID PAYSTRUP / UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

working, if SUU is delivering what it’s promising to new students, and who influences where students attend school – parents or peers.
O’Driscoll said the purpose of the research is to let him know where to focus the school’s recruitment and retention efforts.
The university’s administration is now placing ads in Utah publications, and representatives from SUU are visiting local high schools to raise enrollment.
Newly established, the Tele-bird phone bank also is assisting in the school’s recruitment efforts by calling high school seniors in Utah to ask them questions about their future and invite them to SUU.
O’Driscoll said university recruitment and retention are ongoing processes, but he hopes the committee’s efforts will increase the school’s effectiveness in those areas.