85,000 march for life, gun regulation PAGE 20
PAGE 3
SPRING 2018
6,539 ENROLLED
Proposals made for program teach-outs, terminations
7,312 ENROLLED
7,179 ENROLLED
8,120 ENROLLED
FALL 2016
SPRING 2017
8,100 ENROLLED
SPRING 2016
8,961 ENROLLED
FALL 2015
8,532 ENROLLED
SPRING 2015
FALL 2014
ColumbiaChronicle.com
FALL 2017
April 2, 2018
9,442 ENROLLED
Volume 53, Issue 25
*GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT » INFORMATION COURTESY INSTITUTIONAL EFFECTIVENESS INTERACTIVE REPORTING
» ZOË HAWORTH/CHRONICLE
Enrollment decline slows COLUMBIA’S SPRING 2018 enrollment declined 9.1 percent from spring 2017, down 640 students. However, the percentage decline is less than the 11.4 percent decline Columbia reported from SP16 to SP17 and the 10 percent decline from FA16 to FA17, as reported March 6, 2017, and Oct. 6, 2017, by The Chronicle. A Census Enrollment Report for spring 2018 released by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness showed this semester’s total enrollment at 6,539, in comparison to last spring’s 7,179. Enrollment has declined continuously since it began dropping between FA08 and FA09, when the college’s enrollment dropped 384 students. Of the 19 undergraduate departments listed in the report, 11 lost more than 10 percent of their enrollment between SP17 and SP18, five of which lost more than 20 percent. Theatre is the only department that reported an increase in enrollment.
From FA17 to SP18, nine of the undergraduate departments lost more than 10 percent of their enrollment. Despite the continuous declines, Chief of Staff Laurent Pernot said the college is retaining more freshman students and has seen an increase in transfer and international students. “We’re seeing some declines, but the declines are decreasing,” Pernot said. “We feel like we’re trending well and early indications [are] that trend will continue into the fall 2018 cycle.” Departments that experienced steepest
enrollment declines from SP17 to SP18 include Science and Mathematics, which lost two of its nine students, a 22 percent drop; Dance, which lost 28 of its 126 students, a 22 percent drop; and Humanities, History and Social Sciences, which lost 16 of its 47 students, a 34 percent drop. Chair of the Design Department Tim Cozzens said the declining enrollment was expected for various reasons. The department lost 53 of its 599 students, a 9 percent loss. “We can’t control if a student has the financial means to be able to come back,”
Of the 19 undergraduate departments listed in the report,
11 lost more than 10 percent of their enrollment
Cozzens said. “We can’t control if a student has something happening that makes it hard for them to perform academically and thus have a challenge from returning. We can control access to facilities, and the idea that students are being understood.” Cozzens said the department has spent the last three years actively trying to engage with Student Government Association to increase communication, so students do not think that their voices are being ignored. The college has an enrollment strategy group working to increase enrollment, and examine the issue from a variety of perspectives, according to Senior Vice President and Provost Stan Wearden. The group analyzes financial aid, retention strategies and freshman, transfer and international student recruitment, Wearden said. It is working to increase enrollment in continuing adult education courses with Columbia College Chicago Online, he added. Pernot said enrollment for SP18 was more than expected, given that the college projected 6,475.
SEE ENROLLMENT PAGE 4
» TESSA BRUBAKER & MOLLY WALSH CAMPUS REPORTERS