Southeast enrollment takes a 3.7 percent hit

Enrollment is down 3.7 percent at Southeast Missouri State University over the same time in 2017, Debbie Below, vice president for enrollment management and student success at the university, told the board of regents Friday.

�We are entering a time that is very challenging for higher education,� Below said.

She cited factors including a decline in the number of high-school graduates in the Midwest, and challenges facing international student recruitment.

Below said 11,071 students are enrolled at Southeast, including graduate, undergraduate and online students. While some demographics showed increases, other areas were down, particularly the number of incoming freshmen.

Freshmen enrollment is down 12.8 percent from 2017, Below said, at 1,573.

The other three undergraduate levels lost students as well, between 50 to 80 students each, Below said.

Another area of decline is the intensive English program, or IEP, Below said.

At its peak in 2015, the international student population was 1,131, Below said, and that number has dropped �significantly.�

One factor is the Saudi Arabian government significantly cut a program to sponsor students� study abroad, Below said.

And, she added, several countries are offering online degree programs in their own countries. Southeast is looking at that approach, she said.

�Diversification is incredibly important to our future,� Below said of international-student recruitment. Not only are high-population countries China and India looking to educate their own students rather than exporting them to the United States, but where Southeast was an early leader in seeking international students, now there are several other institutions attempting to recruit the same pool of students.

�It�s going to require pretty significant effort to get back to that 1,100,� Below said.

Another market that has dropped is the St. Louis/St. Charles area, Below said.

And market recovery in Illinois is leading to resident students pursuing their education in Illinois instead of Missouri, she said.

As for second-degree seekers, they are looking less to Southeast and more to online offerings, Below said.

�It�s partly driven by the economy,� she said. Those numbers have fallen from 151 in 2016 to 109 this year, she said.

In years prior to 2015, the number was closer to 250 students seeking a second bachelor�s degree, she said.

On the positive side, a 13.5 percent increase, or about 170, in the number of high-school students taking college courses was reported at the four-week mark, Below said.

Below said the course offerings have expanded in the dual-enrollment program, and another high school was added.

Below said there is a close working relationship between Student Financial Services and her office�s efforts to meet enrollment goals, and the university�s marketing effort is under reorganization.

In 2014, the university celebrated 20 consecutive years of enrollment increases.

mniederkorn@semissourian.com

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