Enrollment falls after run of increases; number up for grad students - dtucker
After eight straight enrollment increases, Louisiana Tech’s 2004 fall enrollment stands at 11,710, down from 11,975 in 2003, according to Sept. 22 figures. The decline measures 2.2 percent.
“I was more surprised last year when we added 700 students than I am by this year’s numbers,” Tech President Dan Reneau said. “Given last year’s amazing surge in overall enrollment, I almost expected there would be a leveling off.
"We have always valued quality over quantity," Reneau said. For example, this year's freshman ACT score rose from 22.2 to 22.5.
Tech remains the largest university in North Louisiana.
In addition, for the third straight year Tech's graduate student enrollment set a record at 2,379, up nearly 7 percent from 2,227 in 2003.
“I am thrilled with the graduate student enrollment,” Reneau said. “Growth in this area has been a big goal for Tech as we seek to move to the next Southern Regional Education Board doctoral level.”
Dr. Terry McConathy, executive vice president and dean of the Graduate School, said the increase in graduate students could be the result of degree programs such as the interdisciplinary Master of Science in molecular sciences and nanotechnology offered by the College of Applied and Natural Sciences and the College of Engineering and Science.
“Several of the degrees Tech offers are unique and not readily available elsewhere in this area,” she said. “There’s also engineering’s Master of Science in microsystems engineering and Liberal Arts’ doctorate in audiology.”
As for the lower numbers, Pamela Ford, dean of enrollment management, said that a number of scenarios likely are affecting enrollment at Tech, including the following:
• A revised admissions framework for four-year public universities will take effect fall of 2005 under the Master Plan for Public Postsecondary Education. This may already be diverting students into the new community and technical college system, which is mostly open admissions and where courses cost less and are fully transferable.
• Admission standards at Tech will be raised again in 2005, a third increase in standards in just more than five years. The last increase was in fall of 2003. Tech may be feeling the cumulative effects of these increases.
• A record 871 Tech graduates in spring of 2004 and a near-record graduating class of 821 in spring of 2003 have shrunk the overall student population.
• Deployments at Barksdale Air Force Base, where Tech has a campus, may be affecting enrollment.
In other fall enrollment numbers, the class of incoming freshmen stands at 1,914, down from last year’s total of 2,121. Ford noted, however, that from 1996 to 2003, first-time freshman enrollment had increased 56 percent and that the growth had been expected to slow.
“Quality over quantity is not something you can complain about,” she said. Tech's official enrollment figures for the year are based on its ninth-class day enrollment, as mandated by the Board of Regents.
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Originally Posted by Thornhillbum2005
