Thursday, 21 November 2013

Enrollment at Maryland colleges down slightly

Across University System of Maryland, enrollment down 1.5%

BALTIMORE —A newly released state Board of Regents report indicates fewer students showed up on Maryland college campuses this fall.
The enrollment decline was even more telling for some of the state's Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

The enrollment numbers are based, in part, on how many students reported to campus last year as opposed to this fall. They give college administrators a pretty good idea of whose signing up for a higher education.
There were few surprises in the latest report from the University System of Maryland. Based on its latest figures, enrollment slipped, but not by much.
"The full-time enrollment has stayed steady. Our traditional campuses are attracting the same types of students year after year, but our online and the part-time students who might be pursuing a degree has decreased," said Chad Muntz, who is with the University System of Maryland.
- Across the board, enrollment was down 1.5 percent.
- The University of Maryland University College saw a 6.1 percent drop.
- There was a 5.3 percent decrease in the fall enrollment at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.
- Coppin State University's student enrollment was down 6.3 percent.
Students were quick to try to put the numbers in context, and share what they say is needed most to help turn the tide.
"There are a lot of good things going on here, student life, the academic piece, our nursing program is state-of-the-art in Maryland," said Jordan Ellis, a Coppin student.
"Our school is more focused on the nursing component and we have a lot more to offer like our theater department and other departments that are lacking that needs more attention," said Nikita Mason, a Coppin student.
Coppin President Mortimer Neufville said the economy is to blame, in part, for the enrollment drop, and it has apparently hit home for students who depend on financial aid.
"The students that we attract depend heavily on the financial aid that they get, and with declining financial aid and declining Parent PLUS loans and all of the support, students are very, very reluctant to become indebted to college for attaining their degrees," Neufville said.
Coppin said it could also do a better job promoting academic programs on community college campuses and in high schools outside of Baltimore.
"The students that really succeed at Coppin are the students who transfer from community colleges, so we are making a more deliberate effort to reach out to our community colleges so that students can leave community college and matriculate at Coppin," Neufville said.
"A lot of students don't know about Coppin. A lot of people don't know about (Coppin) because I'm the only one from my high school who graduated in 2012 that came here or knew about it," said Charnell Goode, a Coppin student.
Maryland graduate school numbers held steady in spite of the economy.
"Based on when the economic crisis hit, I'd say that graduate students are those who are already in college who are already moving forward and had that pace and commitment and could move on the graduate level without having that kind of shock to think about what they had to do what they needed in order to move forward," said Asynith Malecki, a graduate student.
"It does look like a trend in recent years with the undergraduate population at our historically black institutions, but the graduate enrollment has stayed steady, so I believe their programs are still attracting the students and being successful overall," Muntz said.

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