For the second straight year, Emporia State University has positive enrollment news to convey.
Last year, ESU had its first enrollment increase in years, with total fall enrollment at 4,820. On Wednesday, the Kansas Board of Regents announced ESU had a 6-percent growth in enrollment between last fall and this fall, pushing enrollment to 5,110. ESU reports a 7-percent growth in first-time undergraduate student numbers and a 9-percent increase in undergraduate transfers.
Besides the overall enrollment increase, ESU noted significant growth in several programs — like a 19-percent jump in elementary education and nursing/pre-nursing programs, a 22-percent increase for health and human performance and a 72-percent increase in applied criminology.
ESU President Matthew Baker believes previous work on efficiency within the university over the past several years, no doubt, played a large role in the back-to-back enrollment increases.
Baker also believes the university’s focus on creating an impactful experience, both in and out of the classroom, for students is a major contributor to the university’s recent success.
As for sustaining these numbers, Baker says a continued focus on affordability and experience will be the keys to similar trends for the foreseeable future as will be expanding the program offerings currently available.
ESU is now standing out when it comes to university enrollment trends in Kansas. The Board of Regents noted a 4-percent increase at Fort Hays State, with a nearly 4-percent growth marker for the University of Kansas Medical Center, a 0.5-percent increase at the University of Kansas, a 0.3-percent growth number at Kansas State University and flat enrollment at the K-State School of Veterinary Medicine. Pittsburg State’s enrollment declined by 0.6 percent. Wichita State’s enrollment dipped 2.5 percent.
At Flint Hills Technical College, fall enrollment dipped almost 30 percent, from 1,835 to just under 1,300. Technical colleges in general had lower enrollments year-to-year, ranging from 0.8 percent at the Wichita State Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology to over 9 percent at Manhattan Area Technical College.
FHTC President Dr. Caron Daugherty says it is not a result they were wanting, but it is one the college was prepared for due to previously discussed changes at the state level.
Daugherty stated in her interview with KVOE News that “this could be our reality for the next three to five years,” noting that they will “not be getting those programs back.” With this in mind, she says the college will need to focus on three key areas, including increasing opportunities for high school enrollment, increasing relationships with community partners and potentially restructuring its budget to adjust for the decline.
At Flint Hills Technical College, fall enrollment dipped almost 30 percent, from 1,835 to just under 1,300. Technical colleges in general had lower enrollments year-to-year, ranging from 0.8 percent at the Wichita State Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology to over 9 percent at Manhattan Area Technical College.
