USM Summer Enrollment Numbers Down - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Jun 4, 2004

USM Summer Enrollment Numbers Down

Date: Jun 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Pinky
" Just in - Unabridged Summer Enrollment Numbers - these are the Summer student enrollment numbers without late registrations, etc. Summer 2004 - 5263 Summer 2003 - 6217 This is a 16.4% drop from last year - fairly significant, if you ask me...."

I'll bet the 2002 to 2003 drop was even much larger. Campus now has an eery feel to it, like a ghost town. It's not good.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

This may be misleading...

MSU's enrollment appears to also drop (but nowhere near as much):

2003 main campus full summer 7855

2004 main campus full summer 7383

BUT if you compare the 1st 5-week session numbers the enrollments increase:

2003 1st 5 weeks 4337

2004 1st 5 weeks 4456

I assume USM operates with similar summer sessions. If so your numbers will not be accurate until summer II starts.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: palindome
"This may be misleading... MSU's enrollment appears to also drop (but nowhere near as much): 2003 main campus full summer 7855 2004 main campus full summer 7383 BUT if you compare the 1st 5-week session numbers the enrollments increase: 2003 1st 5 weeks 4337 2004 1st 5 weeks 4456 I assume USM operates with similar summer sessions. If so your numbers will not be accurate until summer II starts."

I believe the 16% enrollment drop is real. The numbers being compared for 2003/2004 summer enrollments were pulled at exactly the same time in each semester, namely the end of the first week for each 1st term summer session.

wonder how this fits into the 20,000 students by 2006 plan?

Date: Jun 4, 2004

Pinky,

Thanks for sharing these figures; I have passed them on to the IHL and also to local leaders. The latter surely cannot be happy by the negative impact of such numbers on the local economy.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

I understand MSU has more 5-week courses than USM, so possible enrollment increases due to the second 5-week semester may not be sgnificant.

However, my point with the numbers is that I was comparing the beginning summer semester numbers from 2003 and 2004 - if one were to compare the end of the semester numbers from summer 2003/2004, I'd wager that the difference between the semesters would remain fairly consistent beginning to end.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

I just perused the USM 5-yr statistical factbook for usm for 1998-2002 - the summer numbers are all in the 7,000's, with summer 2002 final tally being 7493. This would imply that (hopefully, I guess) there are a lot of students yet to register, and that perhaps the second summer batch will also add to an increase. NOTE - I can't find the summer 2003 numbers anywhere....it will be interesting to see how this plays out. If the numbers do not increase significantly, will the admin bury the news? How will they spin this, I wonder?

Date: Jun 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: palindome
"This may be misleading...
<SNIP>If so your numbers will not be accurate until summer II starts."

Actually, the numbers at MSU won't be accurate until summer II starts. The MSU stats simply suggest to me that most summer students take summer I classes, owing to preference or availability of courses they want.

If the USM numbers represent counts were pulled with the same process at the same time relative to registration both years, the comparison is valid.

What does summer enrollment look like at Jones, Pearl River & Gulf Coast CC? I betcha they're up.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

Recently, I heard the Gulf Park summer numbers are down 30%. Can anyone verify this? I also heard Ken Malone is suspending Gulf Park recruitment in the coast high schools. It seems "they are changing focus" for the Gulf Coast. Maybe an online college? But certainly not freshmen. Can they do this?

Date: Jun 4, 2004

the numbers you folks are reporting are headcount. if a student takes 1 course or a full load, they are a head count. also important are the student credit hours generated (SCHs). SCHs give you an idea of how many courses they are taking.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by: Pinky
Summer 2004 - 5263 Summer 2003 - 6217 This is a 16.4% drop from last year - fairly significant, if you ask me...."

I get 15.3%, still a big drop.

Date: Jun 4, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: fhaiman
"the numbers you folks are reporting are headcount. if a student takes 1 course or a full load, they are a head count. also important are the student credit hours generated (SCHs). SCHs give you an idea of how many courses they are taking."

Convert SCH to Full-Time equivalents & the SCH numbers are even more apprehensible. There are a lot of formulas but the easiest is to divide total SCH by either 12 or 15 credit hr / FTE. IIRC, the standard denominator for graduate FTE is 9 credit hr.

Does IHL fund based on headcount or FTE?

Date: Jun 5, 2004

quote:
Originally posted by: Invictus
" Convert SCH to Full-Time equivalents & the SCH numbers are even more apprehensible. There are a lot of formulas but the easiest is to divide total SCH by either 12 or 15 credit hr / FTE. IIRC, the standard denominator for graduate FTE is 9 credit hr. Does IHL fund based on headcount or FTE?"

Neither - that's why USM gets shafted every year while Ole Miss, with many fewer students, gets the lion's share (per student) in funding.

Date: Jun 5, 2004

fhaiman is correct - the numbers are the headcount; However, they are the headcount for USMGC and USM hattiesburg campus, not just hattiesburg...