Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
Enrollment drops ~5%; Headcount now under 8k
- Thread starter Jason Svoboda
- Start date
WANTED: Passionate Sycamore Fanatics. That You?
Register NOW to join our community of die-hard Sycamore fans.
Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
You must be related to Curtis.
I think enrollment was 14,000 when Curtis took over. Someone was growing the university.
both the Football and Men's Basketball Media Guides had the enrollment at ~13,500-13,700 when she took over; regardless - ISU should have hit higher enrollment numbers decades ago; plenty of blame to share, she's as much to blame as Landini, Rankin, Moore, Bradley, Benjamin -- I'm giving Jones and Brown a pass.
Who cares what the enrollment was two decades ago? The issue is enrollment TODAY is abysmal and the core business of the school is to attract, retain, and graduate students. They are not doing this due to a bad mission statement and strategy.
Listened to this podcast on my drive home last night and they touched on higher education. I totally agree with his assessment that the Government should not subsidize education for losing/dead professions.
If you go to the actual website of the guy being interviewed, they have some interesting content. Hell, look at the very first article:
Do low-income students benefit from college? What the data say
Colleges serving mostly low-income students tend to offer a worse return on investment than schools serving mostly well-off students.
And THAT was Indiana State's whole fucking strategy over the last decade. No wonder we went from 12-13k to under 8k.
freopp.org
This tool of theirs he mentioned during the podcast is pretty cool, too.
freopp.org
What Godard and the administration needs to do is go through every program and evaluate if it gives students career ROI. Some of those programs that are now just no longer part of the American workforce need to probably be cut. Moreover, they probably should look in adding programs for future proof careers to attract prospective students.
indianastate.edu
There also needs to be some evaluation done as to why some of State's former top performing programs are no longer considered among the best in the State. I feel like I've been told Ball State rocketed past our elementary education program. What happened there?
Also, considering we're one of the most financially reasonable college options, why isn't that hitting with prospective students?
Listened to this podcast on my drive home last night and they touched on higher education. I totally agree with his assessment that the Government should not subsidize education for losing/dead professions.
If you go to the actual website of the guy being interviewed, they have some interesting content. Hell, look at the very first article:
Do low-income students benefit from college? What the data say
Colleges serving mostly low-income students tend to offer a worse return on investment than schools serving mostly well-off students.
And THAT was Indiana State's whole fucking strategy over the last decade. No wonder we went from 12-13k to under 8k.
Higher Education Archives - FREOPP
Student debt now exceeds $1.5 trillion. We must overhaul a system that, for too long, has incentivized colleges and universities to charge unaffordable prices for degrees that do not always improve the lives of their recipients. Measures of return on investment (ROI) can help ensure that that...
freopp.org
This tool of theirs he mentioned during the podcast is pretty cool, too.
ROI - FREOPP
freopp.org
What Godard and the administration needs to do is go through every program and evaluate if it gives students career ROI. Some of those programs that are now just no longer part of the American workforce need to probably be cut. Moreover, they probably should look in adding programs for future proof careers to attract prospective students.
Academic Program Finder | Indiana State University
There also needs to be some evaluation done as to why some of State's former top performing programs are no longer considered among the best in the State. I feel like I've been told Ball State rocketed past our elementary education program. What happened there?
Also, considering we're one of the most financially reasonable college options, why isn't that hitting with prospective students?
Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
When we were at 14k - we were having to begin discussions about the appropriate size for ISU... I think that our sweet spot is around 12-13k. 14k starts to put housing in a real crunch.
Yeah, but they were expecting an enrollment drop.
Bradley made the university more efficient and Beacon increased enrollment... the State kept moving the funding goals because ISU kept matching them. Bradley retired early and they brought Curtis in to raise money - which she did...
you're absolutely correct - I think Bradley mentioned it in one of his last public addresses, I know Curtis raised the topic on more than one occasion, effectively warning the Board (Trustees, Foundation)
As to $$ -- I think the endowment has been doubled? Not sure if that is on the promise of donations OR after the check has cleared...
SycamoreinTexas
The All-American Level
Imagine what an extra 3500-4000 students would mean to Terre Haute economy with kids going out, parents coming to visit…
Since I've read here that every college is experiencing decreases in enrollment, someone please explain this, from a peer institution...and tell me why it is that we shouldn't expect ISU to compete more effectively for students...because right now, and during Debbie's tenure, we weren't (and aren't) competing at all...
Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
DyedBlue
The Captain Level
Apparently, students want to listen to Luke Martin's broadcasts of Saluki sports.
Yep, glad to know my radar was spot on there. That would be my 5 year action plan then for Godard -- to work towards getting back to that 12k mark.
I still would like to see us just dive hard into marketing the Honors College. Hopefully Dr. Bierly has gotten some quality time with him and has a pitch to make it a dominant program. Those kids are high performers that engrain themselves all through campus.
It's very simple...
9k - C+
10k - B+
11k - A-
12k - A+
Like this is all you have to do... I will personally see to it that we build you a statue next to LB if you can get us back above 12k and sustain it. In fact, I might build one with Dr. Bradley giving you a piggy back ride or something - he deserves some credit and it will pay homage to woke higher education culture. Everyone will be happy.
9k - C+
10k - B+
11k - A-
12k - A+
Like this is all you have to do... I will personally see to it that we build you a statue next to LB if you can get us back above 12k and sustain it. In fact, I might build one with Dr. Bradley giving you a piggy back ride or something - he deserves some credit and it will pay homage to woke higher education culture. Everyone will be happy.
I haven't seen this year's state-wide numbers.... but I believe that every State University in Indiana - NOT named Purdue or IU saw enrollment declines over those years as well.. Not an excuse - just adding context.
I may have mentioned this before, but my son’s experience is a good example of ISU miscues. He got accepted to numerous schools. SAT of 1390. Very active in high school and the community.
It’s been eight years since he chose a college, so my numbers may be a little off, but they are close. Wabash offered him $55,000 a year. His total cost to attend was going to be $500 a year. Butler offered him $48,000. His total cost was still $16,000 a year, but that’s a nice chunk being taken care of. IU offered him a full ride. ISU offered him $500 a year. You read that right, $500. And that was because he was a legacy.
He ended up at Butler, but he has fondness for ISU. He attended homecoming with me every year when he was growing up. He would go to a basketball game with me every year. He knew a lot of people who worked at the university. He still pulls for ISU. He went to the NIT final four with me. But he wasn’t going to attend ISU. Not with that offer.
His best friends at Butler ended up being guys from St. Louis, Boston, and Cleveland, all of whom have relocated to Indy upon graduation. They are great guys. They once told me when they were all sophomores that around Butler, ISU stood for “I Screwed Up.” They didn’t tell me to be snarky. In fact, you could tell they felt badly about it. But that was the reputation.
How did we get here? Terrible admission strategies and a lack of money to offer legitimate scholarships. Those two things have to change. Manage that, and have some visible sports success, and things can turn around.
It’s been eight years since he chose a college, so my numbers may be a little off, but they are close. Wabash offered him $55,000 a year. His total cost to attend was going to be $500 a year. Butler offered him $48,000. His total cost was still $16,000 a year, but that’s a nice chunk being taken care of. IU offered him a full ride. ISU offered him $500 a year. You read that right, $500. And that was because he was a legacy.
He ended up at Butler, but he has fondness for ISU. He attended homecoming with me every year when he was growing up. He would go to a basketball game with me every year. He knew a lot of people who worked at the university. He still pulls for ISU. He went to the NIT final four with me. But he wasn’t going to attend ISU. Not with that offer.
His best friends at Butler ended up being guys from St. Louis, Boston, and Cleveland, all of whom have relocated to Indy upon graduation. They are great guys. They once told me when they were all sophomores that around Butler, ISU stood for “I Screwed Up.” They didn’t tell me to be snarky. In fact, you could tell they felt badly about it. But that was the reputation.
How did we get here? Terrible admission strategies and a lack of money to offer legitimate scholarships. Those two things have to change. Manage that, and have some visible sports success, and things can turn around.
Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
I know several people I went to ISU with who can tell the same story - exactly the same story. And ISU lost out every, single time.
ISU concentrates on the wrong people.
ISU sob stories. Life is what you make it. From a business school perspective, I don’t see Butler being any better than ISU. Some people just love to pity ISU and it really pisses me off.
Is that directed at what I said? If so, you need to explain why I pissed you off.
No it’s in general. I hear it all the time. We are all here to support and help ISU improve which is what we need. There’s a lot of naysayers who think ISU cannot ever achieve anything substantial in terms of success