Enrollment nearly stagnant; IUB minority numbers grow

After suffering the lowest IU-Bloomington freshmen enrollment in four years and 613 fewer freshmen than the previous year, last fall the University appeared to be in serious financial despair. However, after enrollment numbers became known for the current school year, University officials said the outlook is more optimistic.\nThe 2005 enrollment report was presented at the Friday board of trustees meeting. Most significantly, freshmen enrollment increased 9.3 percent, with 659 more freshmen attending IUB this semester than in the fall of 2004.\nThe increase in freshmen students gives the University some much-needed finances, said Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Judith Palmer at Friday's meeting. \nThe jump in freshmen enrollment gives IU $2.5 million dollars more than what was projected for the fall semester. However, for the year, the University is at a net gain of $500,000 for the projected budget because of lower than expected summer enrollment numbers. \n"We were 613 freshmen below budget last year," said Neil Theobald, Bloomington vice chancellor for budgetary administration and planning. "So the number last year was artificially low. Basically we are back, maybe a little over, but not tremendously over that difference."\nTheobald said the previous year's decrease was primarily because of the problem with the PeopleSoft software which prevented hundreds from receiving financial aid and thus prohibiting them from enrolling. That problem has now been corrected, he added.\nDespite the higher freshmen numbers, overall enrollment at IUB was only up .4 percent over 2004 to a total of 37,958 students. University-wide, there was a total net loss of two students for the 98,543 enrolled in the eight IU campuses, compared to last year. Only the Bloomington campus saw significant increases in freshmen enrollment as IU-Southeast fell 11.4 percent and the Northwest and East campuses dropped 6.4 and 6 percent, respectively. \n"President Herbert is quite pleased overall with the results," said IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre. "Obviously there are some minor shortfalls in there, a couple of the regional campuses that caught his attention. By and large, he thought the numbers were just about right."\nThe quality of incoming students has also increased, said Charlie Nelms, vice president for student development and diversity. Nelms announced Friday that the average SAT scores for incoming freshmen increased. SAT math scores improved from 523 to 529, and SAT verbal scores rose four points to 520. \nTheobald cited increased scholarships as the main reason for the rise in the scores. \n"We raised quite a bit of money in terms of gifts, targeted specifically at financial aid for high-achieving incoming freshmen," Theobald said. "We had a very aggressive attempt to raise money so we could compete with other universities for high achieving students."\nDiversity was another area that experienced increases from this year's enrollment. At IUB, Asian student enrollment is 3.4 percent of the campus total, an increase of 5.8 percent. Black students now total 4.4 percent of the campus, an increase of 9.6 percent.\n"I'm pleased with the increase but the University definitely needs to do more," said Edwardo Rhodes, interim associate vice president for student development and diversity. "There are many parts of the Indiana population, not just minorities, that we are not reaching."\nRhodes added that to get more minority students and underrepresented residents of Indiana to enroll he wants to encourage the use of the 21st Century Scholars program. The scholarship is first offered to students around seventh or eighth grade, where after completing certain criteria -- such as maintaining a decent grade point average and staying out of trouble -- they will be supported when they enroll at IU. \nOne category in Bloomington that saw a steep decline from last year was part-time undergraduate students, dropping 11.2 percent. \nInterim Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services Roland Coté said this comes as a result from the 6.1 percent drop in non-degree students. He added, "Although there is a drop in part-time students, 88.8 percent of the student body is full-time. This is a record high for the Bloomington campus"