Southeast enrollment something to brag about

There was a celebratory mood in Southeast Missouri State University president Ken Dobbins' office earlier this week as figures revealed a 4.5 percent jump in student enrollment. University officials and staff taped three signs with the number on Dobbins' office door bragging about the increase.

They had a right to brag -- it was a school record.

The total figure came in at 9,352, with a goal of reaching 10,000 students over the next four to five years. The number of graduate students stands at 1,254, up 5.3 percent.

Southeast has more than doubled its enrollment since 1963, when the university had 4,002 students. Increased emphasis on recruitment and retention has helped the university get off to a good start of reaching that goal.

Dobbins attributed the increase to large freshmen enrollment over the past few years, pointing to help from the St. Louis area -- where recruiters worked especially hard after numbers had fallen off in the past. Dobbins also said more and more students are attending their area education centers in Malden, Sikeston, Kennett and Perryville.

All of those factors are true, no doubt.

But an underlying positive that shouldn't be overlooked is the fact that it seems more and more traditional students -- students who enroll directly out of high school -- are deciding to go to college.

Consider the numbers: From 1997-2000, the average age of Southeast undergraduates fell from 23.1 to 22.7. From 1994-1997, there were 4,872 first-time, full-time beginning freshmen. From 1998-2001, there were 5,576, an increase of 704. Residence halls house traditional students almost exclusively. Five years ago, there were 1,700 students in the residence halls. This year there are 2,300.

It seems, now more than ever, for many students -- at least in Southeast Missouri -- not going to college is out of the question. That's great for the numbers-oriented university and even the impact on the local economy.

But, perhaps more importantly, it also should be a source of community pride that more young people are realizing the importance of a good education.

Now it's up to Southeast to continue looking to the future to accommodate the growth. The coming new residence hall, on-campus transit route and planned parking garage are an excellent start.