Southeast looks to set new enrollment record

After getting more potentially bad budget news from the governor this week, Southeast Missouri State University reported some positive numbers Wednesday: The school had 8,301 students enrolled in classes on Tuesday, up 4.9 percent from the start of the spring semester a year ago. School officials say it adds up to a possible record spring enrollment when final numbers come out in four weeks.

"I don't see any reason to think we will not have near-record enrollment," said Dr. Dennis Holt, vice president of administration and enrollment management.

Southeast had 7,917 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled as of the first day of classes a year ago. The university ended up with a record spring enrollment of 8,971 in mid-February.

The university is only 671 students short of breaking the spring record. Last year, more than 1,000 students enrolled after the first day of the semester, including many graduate students.

The healthy enrollment growth comes in a school year when the university has had to cut positions, defer maintenance, delay hiring and purchases and rely on tuition increases to pay for operations. Added to that is a possibility of up to $8 million more in budget cuts this year, Gov. Bob Holden told university officials Tuesday.

Tuition increases, which also are being felt at other state universities in Missouri, haven't turned students away.

Holt said the poor economy actually may be helping the university when it comes to enrollment.

"That is just a fact," he said. "When unemployment rates go up, then more people go to college."

People want new skills or better skills to improve their chances of getting a good job in tough economic times, Holt said.

Enrollment gains also boost tuition revenue for the university, he said.

Southeast had 7,332 undergraduates enrolled in classes on Tuesday, up 5.3 percent over a year ago, school officials said.

Southeast has more sophomores, juniors, seniors and beginning freshmen than a year ago. It has 2.2 percent fewer returning freshmen, but Holt said that reflects the slightly smaller freshman class that entered Southeast last fall.

It doesn't mean that a lot of freshmen dropped out of school after the fall semester, he said.

Southeast has 1,635 returning freshmen taking classes this spring. It has 120 beginning freshmen, up from 88 a year ago.

The sophomore head count stood at 1,612, up 9.6 percent. Southeast had 1,550 juniors enrolled as of Tuesday, up 1.3 percent. The total for seniors stood at 2,071, up 9 percent.

Southeast had 969 graduate students enrolled as of the first day of classes, up 13 students from a year ago.

Other categories of students, such as high schoolers who are dually enrolled in high school and college classes, make up the total enrollment of undergraduates, school officials said.

Enrollment figures also include students enrolled in Southeast classes on the main campus in Cape Girardeau and at area higher education centers in the region, officials said.

Graduate student growth

The graduate students include 667 seeking master's degrees, up from 658 in spring 2002. The university has 100 students in the specialist in education program and 11 seeking doctorates. The number of non-degree seeking graduate students stood at 191, down by nine.

For undergraduate students, the campus may seem like one big traffic jam.

But there are no parking problems for graduate students like Cory Crosnoe of Cape Girardeau, an assistant principal at Cape Girardeau Central High School who is pursuing a graduate degree in education at Southeast.

"I guess for graduate students it is easier," he said. "We go at night. Normally, the big crowd is out of the parking lots by then."

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123

Rising enrollment

First-day spring enrollment figures from the past five years for Southeast Missouri State University:

1999 - 7,605

2000 - 7,677

2001 - 7,700

2002 - 7,917

2003 - 8,301

SOURCE: Southeast Missouri State University