EFFORTS COMBINE TO INCREASE UNIVERSITY GROWTH

When Southeast Missouri State University came up with a strategic plan a few years ago that forecast enrollment would top 10,000 students in a few short years, there were more than a few skeptics who thought the target was too ambitious.

Now it appears highly likely that the university's enrollment will top 10,000 by the fall of 2005. To reach that goal, the university has done its share of recruitment and marketing. But it has done much more as well.

Much of the emphasis in recent years has been on student retention. It is one thing to get a student to enroll as a freshman. It is another to keep that student in school until he or she graduates, whether that is four years, five years or many years later.

Those retention efforts are paying off. So while the number of freshmen is growing each year, the number of students who choose to stay at Southeast likewise is increasing.

University officials attribute student retention to several factors, but customer satisfaction is highest on the list. Satisfied students are those who are able to cope with and pass the classes they are taking. To that end, the school offers an all-out effort to prepare incoming students for the classes they are about to take.

Smaller class sizes, majors in fields that have good job prospects, high-quality instruction and outreach programs such as the education centers throughout Southeast Missouri also are reasons for enrollment growth at the university.

The school's announcement this week that it has reached saturation for enrolling freshmen is indicative of the success Southeast has had in becoming the university of choice for many graduating high school seniors. Officials say the university's well-deserved reputation as a good place to get a college education is attracting students from many smaller communities in Southeast Missouri. And enrollment from the St. Louis metropolitan area is showing healthy increases. Fully 40 percent of beginning freshman this fall will be from St. Louis and surrounding counties.

In order to provide the best education experience to these new students, the university wants to make sure it can give its freshman the best of everything: preparation, instruction and guidance. As university president Ken Dobbins observes, limiting freshman enrollment isn't likely to keep anyone from attending the university. Historically, the university receives only a handful of applications after late June, and many of those don't meet the university's moderately selective admissions criteria.

With the cooperative programs provided by the university and area community colleges (which have open enrollment policies), no one who desires a college education should feel left out. Indeed, these efforts are clearly having a positive effect on enrollment growth.