The
TANGERINE
VOL. LXXVIII , ISSUE 1
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2024
UTICATANGERINE.COM
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Student enrollment at Utica is steady compared to national trends Breannan O’Hara, Editor in Chief
tween 429 and 456 students,” Sykes said. “The exception to this was the cohort that entered in 2023 which enAccording to the National Center for Education Statistics rolled over 570 new first-time students.” (NCES), college enrollment has been steadily declining over the past 10 years. In con- About half of South Hall is trast to most other institutions, closed this semester which suggested that student enUtica’s post-COVID enrollrollment was low. However, ment trend has been stable. Sykes said although he was not involved in the decision, Vice President for Enrollment Management Eric Sykes he speculated that “efficienrecently addressed the institu- cy” played a role. He said it’s more efficient for the tional, national and regional university to operate with a trends that are influencing “smaller occupied footprint” college enrollment. rather than having empty beds “Enrollment trends at Utica dispersed throughout the resipost-COVID have actually been quite steady, ranging be- dence halls.
A decline of overall student enrollment is observed nationally and locally. There are various influences that are currently impacting the higher education market. “There’s been a great deal of media focus on student loan debt in the past few years,” Sykes said. “Utica University is actually in a good position in this regard due to the low average student loan debt of our graduates, but it has had a widespread impact on student choice and not only on which college to choose, but whether or not to pursue a degree at all.”
Other influences that have impacted student enrollment were the “difficulties of qualifying for aid that was caused by FAFSA issues” during the 2024 year and “distance from home” impacting student college choice after post-COVID years. Utica University is taking various measures to combat low student enrollment, according to Sykes. “We’re engaging students across a number of platforms to highlight the Academic Quality, Affordability, Student Experience (including Athletics), and the Professional Preparation our students receive,” Sykes said. “Another important consideration is retention. Ultimately retained students have a significant impact on the overall institutional enrollment.” Sykes emphasizes that size alone should not be used to evaluate student classes. “ A ‘good class’ isn’t judged just on size alone,” Sykes
Students gather to play Bingo in the spring 2024 semester. Tangerine file photo.
said. “There are other factors such as the mix of major interests, academic quality, demographic mix and other components that help make up a strong class.”