How MISSOURI S&T Can Address the Oncoming
Decline in Traditional College-bound Students in Missouri
DRAFT 1: April 2008
Core market shift issues likely to impact future S&T enrollments:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Continuing decline in STEM Major interest, along with the +30% national drop-out/change of
major rate for students starting in a STEM field
Decline in males pursuing higher education: only 43% of the state/nations enrollments are male
Increase in minorities graduating from primary student markets
Continuing to serve needy students and first generation students
The estimated 5% to 8% decline in Missouri high school graduates, coupled with the continuing decline of
students interested in pursuing engineering degrees (only 4.8% of college-bound students in 2007), could
potentially reduce MISSOURI S&T’s new student classes by 35 to 65 students each year. Over a six-year
period, without intervention, MISSOURI S&T’s enrollment could decline by 210 to 390 students.
The following enrollment strategies are designed to help MISSOURI S&T stabilize, or even moderately
grow, its undergraduate population between 2008 and 2014:
1.
Create a Center for Pre-College Programs to widen the pipeline of Missouri
students interested in attending college and pursuing STEM degrees. The
MISSOURI S&T CPCP will focus on increasing the number of K-11 students and
teachers visiting the Rolla campus for academic experiences, increasing the number
Missouri high schools offering pre-engineering curriculum (Project Lead the Way), and
improving the quality of the existing pre-college programs at MISSOURI S&T.
2.
Expand campus units that best support the growing traditional age student
markets: under-represented minority students and female students. The reorganized offices of Student Diversity Programs and the MISSOURI S&T Women’s
Leadership Institute now report to the Enrollment Management division. Both units have
a separate directors (champions), GO and grant funded budgets, and specific recruitment
and retention goals.
3.
Increase the goal and support programs for undergraduate student retention. The
MISSOURI S&T divisions of Undergraduate and Graduate Programs and Enrollment
Management are assigned to help the campus increase the first-to-second year retention
rate to 90%. The retention rate was 82% in 2000 and has risen to 87% in 2005. A 90%
retention rate will increase MISSOURI S&T’s enrollment by up to 72 students per
freshmen cohort, or up to 325 undergraduates over a six-year enrollment period.
4.
Implement at least two regional recruiter positions located in growing out-of-state
metropolitan areas and expand out-of-state and international recruitment efforts.
At this time, the university has determined that the Dallas-Ft. Forth and Chicago regions
provide the best potential for increasing the out-of-state undergraduate populations. The
targeted student markets will need to annually send at least 50 new students to
MISSOURI S&T. Efforts will be made to target students considering other private
technological research universities (like RPI, WPI, IIT, HKKUST, etc) emphasizing
S&T’s parallel quality and lower tuition costs.
5.
Focus scholarship donation requests on assisting students with financial need
1
MISSOURI S&T’s enrollment growth strategy involves significantly boosting the graduate enrollment over
the next five years.
1.
Increase the total number of graduate students to 1750, or close to one-third of the
student population. As the sponsored research has increased, so has the number of
graduate students. Between 2000 and 2006, the sponsored research grew from around
$17 million to $35 million and the graduate population increased from 928 to 1,289
students. New research proposals will now include full funding for additional graduate
assistantships and departments will determine preferred undergraduate programs for
recruiting new graduate students.
2.
Expand the number of industry requested graduate certificate programs and start
the IST focused MBA degree. Both of these efforts will attract greater numbers of fullpay graduate enrollments. MISSOURI S&T’s Corporate Development Councils and
industry supporters have helped identify a number of highly needed post-bachelor
certificate programs. The uniquely structured MBA degree will rely on a blended
learning model, where students complete one extended semester on-campus and complete
the degree on-line. The program was influenced by industry leaders understanding the
need to attract high achieving, non-business undergraduates and current business
practioners who are desiring to better grasp the skill-sets needed for today’s information
science and enterprise resource driven businesses.
3.
50% increase in the number on-line and distance education students. In the fall of
2001, MISSOURI S&T had 233 on-line and distance based graduate students. By 2005,
the enrollment had grown to 501. Additional technology-enabled classrooms and the
industry supported graduate certificate programs could help grow the number of offcampus MISSOURI S&T graduate enrollments to close to 725 students.
2
GOAL 2.1: Status Update
Table 2.1
Missouri S&T's overall student recruitment and retention efforts are making notable progress towards
achieving a student body of 6,550 by 2011. Although large gains have been made in the numbers of
minority, female, and international students enrolled, current market data indicates that the 2011 diversity
goal will be very difficult to achieve without significant investments in scholarships, programs & staffing.
Fall Semester
Headcount
2000
4626
3698
928
Actual
2005
5,602
4,313
1,289
2006
2007
Total Enrollment
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
5,858
4,515
1,343
6,167
4,753
1,414
2007
6,000
4,610
1,390
2008
6,150
4,675
1,475
Goal
2009
6,300
4,730
1,570
2010
6,425
4,770
1,655
2011
6,550
4,800
1,750
Freshmen Class
Transfer Class
696
210
914
314
977
266
1,051
276
940
280
945
290
945
300
945
310
945
320
American Indian/Alaskan Native
Asian-American
Black, Non-Hispanic
Hispanic-American
24
117
159
53
20
131
200
104
20
198
245
137
33
198
271
139
22
218
270
151
24
240
296
166
27
264
326
182
28
277
342
192
29
290
359
201
Total Female
Undergraduate Female
Graduate Female
Freshman Female
Transfer Female
1071
860
211
196
45
1224
945
279
168
91
1326
1016
310
221
70
1,391
1,052
339
255
74
1450
1110
340
245
75
1600
1210
390
257
80
1765
1325
440
270
85
1865
1390
475
277
90
1965
1440
525
284
96
On-campus
Distance Education
4393
233
5,101
501
5,389
469
5,649
518
5,460
540
5,570
580
5,655
645
5,735
690
5,825
725
Fall 2007 Total Students
139
2.25%
846
13.72%
Engineering
Business and IST
206
3.34%
Arts and Social Sciences
Science and Computing
313
5.08%
Non-Degree/Undecided
4,663
75.61%
3
Projected Change in High School Graduates
2002-2012
+9
-11
-17
-20
-4
+7
+11
-22
-6
-11
+7
+12
+20
+4
-3
-8
-7
+53
+5
-6
-8
+2
+7
+4
-2
-4
+3 -3
-7
+3
+8
-1
-12
+6
+13
-10
-10
-2
-1
0
+10
+5
+3
-10
-3
-1
+2 +16
+9
+9
-10
> 20 %
+11% to +20%
0% to +10%
Decreases
NCES, 2005
4
SOURCE: WICHE 2008
Changes in Intended Major 1976-77 to 2006-07
28%
21%
14%
7%
0%
Business
Engineering
Education
76-77
CHART SOURCE: College Board, 2007
Biological
Sciences
86-87
Computer
Science
96-97
Social
Sciences
Art, Music,
Drama
Health
Professions
06-07
DATA SOURCE: CIRP
5
Female Enrollments Exceed 57%
of All College Students
SOURCE: NCES, The Condition of Education 2006, pg. 36
Measuring Up Report Cards
6