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An increase in enrollment will benefit students

Editorial Board

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The University of Toledo can finally boast an increase in enrollment numbers, as the number increased from 18,783 from last spring to 18,849 total undergraduate and graduate students this spring semester. Enrollment numbers have declined for five years, so this increase is much to be celebrated. As student admission increases, along with last semester’s increase in student retention, we are happy to see this growth and hope the trend continues.
While it’s difficult to gauge exactly what caused the increase, UT cited new strategies centered on personalizing interactions with students, as well as a new College Credit plus program that may have led to the increase. Whatever the source for this, something is going right and we certainly hope the progress continues. Why? Increased enrollment is crucial for university success, and the falling enrollment over the last few years has dramatically affected the budget.
An increase in enrollment is an increase in revenue. It means more students are able to use the available facilities, and more money is available to hire faculty members, be used for athletic teams, fix infrastructure and enact required changes on campus. With enrollment increasing, we hope that measures like the hiring freeze that were necessary to cut costs will no longer be needed, and that the administration can focus more on improving the university instead of deliberating on what and where to cut.
Colleges around UT, including BGSU, are also showing an increase in enrollment numbers. Even though enrollment decreased at Owens Community College, their administration actually says the incoming number was more than what was projected for the school year. Our hope is that with the economy improving, more people are choosing UT over community colleges because they have the money to spend on a university, and that this trend will continue into the next few years.
The incoming freshmen indicate a gross increase in monies for the university, which would mean there would be more resources available for further increase in student numbers. Importantly, we recognize that the increase in monies would mean the ability to improve university infrastructure by modernizing facilities, replacing outdated equipment and upgrading areas in and around campus.
The growth in student numbers may also call for an increase in room and board accommodations for the new students, and despite being primarily a commuter college, UT can accommodate more students — we have the room and the resources for it. Not only are there extra rooms available in dorms, there are off-campus housing opportunities and new on-campus housing complexes, and these promise sufficient space for the new students. They might be outdated, but if we knew more students will be using them in the future, the administration might make it a priority to invest money in them.
President Gaber emphasized a focus on the negative enrollment numbers from the time she took office, and said she would work to see an increase in the numbers. Her administration has been developing different strategies to achieve that. For example, she has visited local high schools as part of her recruitment efforts and her administration is holding focus groups with current students to identify the marketable assets of UT that bring in new students, as well as hiring an outside firm to help boost enrollment and changing the direction of UT’s enrollment strategy after Cruickshank stepped down. We predict that continuing with such efforts will keep up the numbers we have seen this semester, and we are happy to see Gaber making continued efforts to bring her plans to fruition.
Our point is not to identify each and every factor that dictates enrollment, but to acknowledge and applaud the increase, which has come after a long hiatus. UT had undergone a period of five years when enrollment numbers kept showing decreases. However, the trend seems to have changed now and we hope it will continue to be in the positive. While we cannot say that the increase was entirely a result of Gaber’s efforts, as she has been here for a short term only, her efforts are definitely moving towards keeping enrollment numbers positive.

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