Freshman enrollment exceeds last year’s class by 16 students, for a total of 935. New transfer students total 395, or 15 more than Fall 2023. Retention of first-year students also grew to 78 percent, and the persistence of sophomores to their junior year is up nearly 5 percent.
Total enrollment is 5,774 -- an increase over last year’s 5,732.
These figures were among the preliminary 20th Day enrollment figures released by the Kansas Board of Regents this week. The numbers are welcome after a period of decline for not just Pitt State, but universities nationwide.
“These are more than just statistics,” said President Dan Shipp. “These numbers represent individual student lives, and with a college degree, each of those students is going to be able to pursue a career and contribute to our community, our region, our state, in a meaningful way.”
The numbers are a reflection of strategies implemented by staff, faculty, and administrators in the past few years, Shipp said. Among them:
The university, along with all of higher education, is preparing for the long-expected “enrollment cliff,” a result of lower birth rates during the 2007-2009 recession.
“During the last recession, birthrates dropped in the U.S.,” said Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management Karl Stumo. “Combined with an overall declining college-going rate, the lower number of students will be felt across higher education most acutely over the next five years.”
Implementing strategies to overcome this is Pitt State’s top priority, says Shipp.
“Not only is it extremely important for us to retain the students we already have with end-to-end support, we also must ensure our campus is a place for anyone who seeks to make their life better,” said Shipp.
To do that, he said, requires focusing on degrees and certificate pathways for high-demand careers, keeping college affordable, making the campus attractive and accessible to many demographics, and increasing the university’s research footprint in areas critical to the success of Kansas.
The university also is assessing the demand and growth capacity of academic programs to help define enrollment and research goals.
“This work, combined with new student recruitment processes, are putting us on a solid path for the future,” said Stumo. “It’s exciting to see that it’s working, and over time the impact will be that students’ lives will be changed for the better.”