YSU enrollment: "We have stemmed the tide"

Thursday, September 3, 2015
Youngstown State University’s enrollment picture is taking a turn for the better according to student counts released today for Fall Semester.While overall enrollment has dropped more than 4 percent on average in each of the previous four years, this Fall’s headcount enrollment is down only 0.7 percent.The number of students on campus stands at 12,471, down 85 from 12,556 last year, according to official counts recorded today on the 15th day of the semester. Last year, overall enrollment was down 6.3 percent.“We have stemmed the tide, stabilized enrollment, are seeing some very positive numbers in some important categories and fully expect our numbers to begin to increase as early as next semester,” said Gary Swegan, associate vice president for Enrollment Planning and Management.Among the positive indicators:
  • The number of freshmen students is UP 247 from last year, or 13.5 percent. (By comparison, the number of freshmen decreased 110 or 5 percent in 2013,j and 288 or 13.6 percent in 2014.)
  • The number of new students, which includes freshmen, transfer, graduate and dual enrollment, is UP 601 students from last year, or 20 percent.
  • The freshman-to-sophomore retention rate this year is also UP significantly, from 67 percent to 73.2 percent.
  • For the second consecutive year, the freshman class has set all-time highs for average ACT scores (21.19) and high school grade point average (3.14).
The university also reported that the freshmen class includes increased numbers of out-of-state students (+64 percent), minority students (+42 percent) and honors students (+82 percent). The class includes students from 421 high schools (up from 303 last year) and 54 counties (up from 37 last year).In addition, Youngstown State applications for Fall 2016 are already trending much higher than this time last year.“We have built what we believe to be a sustainable infrastructure for enrollment management that will result in increased numbers of students attending YSU in the years ahead,” Swegan said.Fall semester enrollment 2015 12,471 -0.7 percent 2014 12,551 -6.2 percent 2013 13,381 -3.1 percent 2012 13,813 -5 percent 2011 14,541 -4.3 percent 2010 15,194