Sederburg credits UVSC's enrollment increase to new bachelor's degrees and excitement over university status. UVSC will become a university July 1.

Sederburg believes that SUU's success can be attributed in part to an aggressive marketing campaign that has included highway billboards along the Wasatch Front. "They've even put ads in our (campus) magazines."

Snow may have suffered because the administration is undergoing changes with its new president, Sederburg said.

"When those longer-range strategies change, it causes some confusion."

UVSC Director of Budgets Linda Makin did not increase funding from last year when she designed the budget for this school year, and now is pleasantly surprised that UVSC find itself with a little more cash. "Right now we're looking at our tuition revenues to see what they look like," she said.

Although the decreases reported this year were minimal, Kendell, the Board of Regents and other leaders in higher education want to boost systemwide college participation rates by .5 percent annually. They hope to grab the attention of students as soon as possible, even tossing around an idea to offer each student a cash scholarship to any school in the state upon high school graduation and completion of certain requirements.

"Research shows that immediate enrollment is a good predictor of timely degree completion," Kendell said. "However, it is always a good time to go back to college and our institutions are ready to advise and assist any student who walks through their doors."

Overall, the total number enrolled at Utah's schools has decreased by 121 students since last year. The system has lost nearly 271 full-time equivalent students.

The regents' tally includes five more men than last year and 199 fewer women.

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Contributing: Laura Hancock
E-mail: wleonard@desnews.com