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The University of Toledo is shown in Toledo in 2017.
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UT enrollment continues tailspin

THE BLADE/KURT STEISS

UT enrollment continues tailspin

The University of Toledo continued its enrollment tailspin, losing another 8.6 percent of its student body this year.

Undergraduate and graduate enrollment dropped from 17,070 students last fall to 15,603.

The university declined to make the president or other officials available for an interview, but acknowledged in a prepared statement that the ongoing decline is worrisome and it will negatively impact the education the school can provide.

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“While a decline in enrollment this fall wasn’t unexpected, it is unsustainable,” University President Dr. Gregory Postel said in a news release. “Enrollment has been a challenge at UToledo for a number of years. We will continue to think creatively about student recruitment, but we also must reevaluate our operations as a university with 15,000 students rather than the UToledo of the past with 20,000 students.

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“This year, as we develop our strategic plan, we are prioritizing our limited resources to have the greatest impact for our current and future students and our community,” he added.

It is unclear what the university will do to attract more students or what changes will be made this year to account for the declining enrollment. Last month, the university paused its dorm renovation project, citing, in part, declining enrollment. 

This fall’s total enrollment is the largest percentage decline in five years for the university, with 2021 showing a 7.8 percent enrollment drop, and 2020 a roughly 7 percent decrease.

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All told, total enrollment has shrunk by about 21 percent from the 19,782 fall student headcount reported in 2019 and 32 percent since 2010, when the student enrollment was 23,085.

Undergraduate programs took the larger hit, dropping by 9.2 percent from 13,185 last fall to 11,977. Fall graduate program enrollment decreased by 6.7 percent, from 3,885 to 3,626 students.

Bowling Green State University, which typically saw slight enrollment increases in the past five years, saw a 4.1 percent drop in undergraduate and graduate student enrollment from 19,597 in 2021 to 18,792 this year — a decrease of 805 students.

Undergraduate students accounted for 15,722, with 564 students solely online. Graduate students were at 3,070, with 1,290 graduate students solely online.

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Following the start of 2020, the university announced its highest enrollment in a decade — at 20,232 total students — before decreasing enrollment by 3.14 percent last fall.

After years of fall enrollment decline, things are looking up for Owens Community College’s total student headcount.

During a Tuesday board of trustees meeting, Owens President Dione Somerville said the college increased enrollment by 1.2 percent, or 75 students, compared to last fall with a total headcount of 6,432.

The increase might seem modest, but it’s still a contrast to the 22.6 percent drop from the fall of 2020 — after the start of the coronavirus pandemic — and slightly less than a 1 percent decrease last year.

Owens has struggled to stave off enrollment decline going as far back as the fall of 2009 when, following the 2008 financial crisis, the college had 23,606 students enrolled in its education and job-training courses.

David Shaffer, Owens’ executive director of student services, said Tuesday that more students this fall are utilizing Owens’ courses through the state’s College Credit Plus program, and are enrolling in training programs through their employers.

College Credit Plus allows area middle and high school students to earn college credit by taking Owens courses taught at their schools and on the college campus.

This year, there are 840 students enrolled this fall compared to the 769 enrolled last year — a 9.2 percent increase. Owens saw a 25.3 percent increase in the number of students taking workforce development courses, with 915 students enrolled compared to 730 last fall.

“For College Credit Plus, there's definitely students, parents, and school officials as well who are interested in their students getting college credit while they're in high school, which obviously saves the students money and reduces the amount of student loans that they have to take out over time,” Mr. Shaffer said. “And we've seen increases in our students who want to come to Owens through their employer because they’re looking to upgrade their skills.

“Those are two areas that really kind of took a hit during the pandemic,” he added, “and I think we're just kind of seeing the rebound of people being back in person and employers wanting to get their employees some form of training.”

The percentage of continuing students did increase year-over-year by 2.1 percent — from 2,649 last fall to 2,705 this year — but new student enrollment decreased by 11.6 percent from 1,564 in 2021 to 1,382 this year.

First Published September 14, 2022, 12:25 p.m.

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