UVSC growth slows down

OREM — Where have all the high school seniors gone?

Utah's public schools resemble a boa constrictor that just swallowed eight or nine mice, one after another. Many school districts are scrambling to keep up as children pack classes from Kindergarten through 9th grade.

But while Utah's elementary and middle schools burst at the seams, enrollment is flat in the state's high schools. In fact, the number of high school seniors in Utah actually dropped each of the past three years. The trend apparently will last two more years before the population boom in the lower grades boils over into the high schools.

The slowdown in seniors slammed the brakes on enrollment growth at several of the state's colleges and universities, especially Utah Valley State College, which had been growing at rates between 8 percent and 13 percent for the past five years. This fall, the school's head count is up just 194 students, from 23,609 to 23,803.

That's a significant lull in a storm of expansion that saw the number of UVSC students quadruple over the past 20 years. The school is projected by state officials to double in size again over the next 20 years, to more than 48,000 students.

"We expect 2 to 3 percent increases for the next two years, 2004 and 2005, mirroring the drop in the number of high school seniors across the state," said Michelle Lundell, associate vice president for student services. "After that, enrollment surges again."

The surge is already being felt in school districts, especially in the north and south ends of Utah County, where bedroom communities are sprouting up and spurring a rash of building. Alpine School District has built four new elementary schools in the past two years, along with a new middle school and a new junior high. The district could decide to add another elementary school by next fall, superintendent Vern Henshaw said.

The Nebo School District is preparing to ask voters to approve bonds to pay for seven new elementary schools, a new junior high and two new high schools, one in Mapleton and one in Salem.

"We're so overcrowded, but we're one of the districts growing in every grade, including the high schools," spokeswoman Lana Hiskey said. "We're growing by a thousand students a year."

The enrollment slowdown in higher education is viewed positively by state officials, especially during an economic slowdown that has taxed the Legislature's ability to keep up with growth. The University of Utah implemented an enrollment cap and Southern Utah University and UVSC instituted large tuition hikes this year to help manage growth.