Enrollment dip worries colleges

Stagnant population growth and waning retention could take a hefty bite out of Utah's college enrollment over the next decade.

With flat or slightly declining projections for higher education, the Board of Regents will shine a spotlight on recruitment and retention during its annual planning meeting Thursday at Southern Utah University.

"There's never been a time when higher education is more important, yet we have fewer people participating," said Rich Kendell, Utah commissioner of higher education. "For most people, a high school education is not going to help them be a self-sustaining adult."

Population estimates show stagnant growth in the next decade for 18- to 24-year-olds in Utah. On top of that, Utah colleges are losing about half of the students who enroll in college directly out of high school, Kendell said.

Utah's system of nine public colleges and universities already saw the harbingers of the coming dry spell this year with an overall loss in enrollment of nearly 4 percent. Some schools like the College of Eastern Utah and Utah Valley State College saw more than 10 percent losses.

In particular, Kendell said state leaders need to take a hard look at minority enrollment as an opportunity to beef up enrollments. Only 13 percent of Hispanic college-age residents attend college in Utah, compared to 39 percent of white college-age residents, according to research by the University of Utah.

David Doty, assistant commissioner of higher education for Utah, is already heading up a group of university leaders to examine how to attract more minorities to college. The group hopes to have concrete suggestions and possible legislation prepared by the fall.

"It's just an unacceptable gap," Doty said.

Kendell also hopes recruitment efforts can bolster the falling number of Utah women who obtain a college degree. The percentage of women in Utah with a bachelor's degree or higher fell from ninth place in the nation to 25th place since 1940, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

"We lose a lot of women along the way," Kendell said.

Kendell hopes tapping in to minority and female populations can help keep the higher education numbers up during the lean years ahead.

The College of Eastern Utah already witnessed the fallout of the declining college-age pool. The Price institution saw its enrollment drop by 11 percent this year, a sizeable loss for a school that's only 1,700 strong.