Enrollment down

[Globetrotter]

I have really not been paying attention to BG, but from what I heard enrollment was down this year and has been for awhile. This seems interesting. What are the reasons fro this?

[Falcon Fanatic]

I have really not been paying attention to BG, but from what I heard enrollment was down this year and has been for awhile. This seems interesting. What are the reasons fro this?

And I've heard (from a pretty reliable source) that the incoming freshman class is the biggest in years! hmmmm.....

[Globetrotter]

I have really not been paying attention to BG, but from what I heard enrollment was down this year and has been for awhile. This seems interesting. What are the reasons fro this?

And I've heard (from a pretty reliable source) that the incoming freshman class is the biggest in years! hmmmm.....

Reasons why. From what I read when I googled they did not say why it was down but did talk about why it was going back up after a refocus on marketing etc.

[transfer2BGSU]

I have really not been paying attention to BG, but from what I heard enrollment was down this year and has been for awhile. This seems interesting. What are the reasons fro this?

I can think of two reasons real fast -

First, the residence halls. Thank God that Michael Griffel FINALLY was able to persuade some power-that-is that we needed to take some serious action. Two new residence halls are being built with a completion date of Fall 2011. Michael has been touting the need for these halls for too long.

Second, scholarship monies. We cut the allocation of scholarship monies back a few years ago. We read the tea leaves and saw that we could not sustain the amount of dollars that were pouring out and we could also see some of the economic instabilities with the state funding. We cut out full tuition grants for everyone with a 3.8 GPA and 30 ACT and now only award 25. And yes, I know we'll hear some people state the only reason they attended BGSU was because they got that full tuition scholarship. We decided to give the money to the students that want to attend BGSU instead. Our bread-and-butter student has a 3.22 GPA and a 22 ACT. These students were not receiving a scholarship before. Now they receive $1,500. BGSU was redistributing the wealth before Obama became President.

Enrollment indicators for Fall 2010 look EXTREMELY promising. But until those butts are in the seats on the fifteenth day of the semester, we will not be resting comfortably.

What can YOU do to increase enrollment? Several things -

First, encourage students who are looking at colleges to consider BGSU. You have a co-worker whose son or daughter is entering their senior year and not sure where they want to go? Encourage them to visit the campus. You might even consider coming up to campus with them. Attend the Admissions presentation, take the campus tour, then show them some of your favorite haunts before taking them over to Campus Polleyes, Myle's Pizza or Mr. Spots.

Second, purchase your BGSU license plate when you renew your tags this year. Twenty-five dollars will be returned to the university to the general scholarship fund. How does this help to increase enrollment? Two ways - first, you're advertising your alma mater with the plates and second, the money generated from the sale of the plates equates to almost $22,500 yearly in scholarships (BGSU is somewhere over 900 plates sold annually - that is way too low a number). Imagine if every residential student vehicle in Lot 12 had a BGSU plate.........the scholarship money that would generate would be of great assistance.

Third, donate. Donate whatever you can afford to the university. Join the Falcon Club (even if its only at the $100 level). Give to WBGU-PBS during their membership drive. Give to the college you graduated from for their general scholarship fund. Did you receive a scholarship while attending? If so, donate back to that particular scholarship fund. How much should you give? It doesn't matter. Just give. Allow a BGSU student to shadow you on the job. Allow a BGSU student to complete a co-op or internship with your company. Give money or give your time.

[Falcon Fanatic]

Transfer, we'll be doing our part...our son attends BGSU right now and in the fall of 2011, our daughter will be there too! It will be a tough year ($$$) with both of them at BG 2011-2012, but we wouldn't have it any other way!! BGSU is part of their bloodline; lots of orange flowing through those veins!!

[Class of 61]

As part of the RAS committee in NE Ohio (Regional Advancement Strategy), I am under the DISTINCT impression that enrollment at BG WILL be up significantly come fall. As somone already stated, until "butts are in seats" no one can be absolutely sure. But from what I've been told, the number of APPLICANTS was up greatly (somewhere around 13K if I recall), the number of acceptances also up a lot (around 11K or so)... Don't know what the ACTUAL room deposits, summer orientation numbers are like, but I think BG has done a much better job of "marketing" itself... The US NEW and W.Report also gave us major props in several areas, especially in the area of "new student development" (My term for it). I'd think this would make most parents happy.

Add to this the new buildings going up around campus, (2 dorms, Wolfe Ctr., Stroh Ctr.) and you have a lot of built in excitement on campus.
Also, some of the young alums working in conjunction with admissions office seem to have done a HECK of a job visiting good "feeder" HS's that hadn't received attention in quite awhile.

[BGSU33]

There was an article in the Plain Dealer the other day about enrollment in Ohio public universities, and of the 13 schools listed, only BG had a decrease in enrollment while the other 12 had an increase. The enrollment numbers used were from 2009 and the change since 2000. This doesn't appear to be the direction we want to be headed in considering everyone else is headed up but us. Here's the list:

Ohio State 55,870 +14%
Cincinnati 31,296 +15%
Akron 26,395 +22%
Kent State 25,351 +15%
Toledo 23,136 +11%
Ohio 22,640 +14%
Wright State 17,593 +19%
Bowling Green 17,441 -4%
Miami 16,767 +4%
Cleveland State 16,506 +5%
Youngstown State 14,649 +24%
Shawnee State 4,326 +32%
Central State 2,423 +118%