Ohio State no longer has the largest student enrollment on a single campus, but that doesn’t mean the university’s student population is decreasing.
According to OSU’s Winter Quarter 15th Day Enrollment Report, the university’s total population for all campuses increased 2.5 percent compared to winter 2010.
OSU’s main campus holds 54,351 students, while the four regional campuses hold a combined total of 7,607 students, according to the report. OSU trails Arizona State University, which has a spring 2011 enrollment of nearly 66,000 students, and University of Central Florida, which has a fall 2010 enrollment of 56,236 students. With regional campus enrollment included, OSU ranks second with 61,958 students.
Central Florida has an enrollment plan that looks at enrollment projections by year, whereas OSU does analysis each quarter.
The 15th Day Report shows the continued growth in the student population as the university experienced in autumn, said Gail Stephenoff, director of OSU’s Office of Enrollment Services. The report addresses a breakdown in enrollment figures and percentages for each OSU campus, ethnicity, gender, state and college within the university.
Each quarter, OSU’s Office of Enrollment Services aims to find a balance between the desired size and mix of the student population with the university resources to serve the students, Stephenoff said.
“The vice president for strategic enrollment planning establishes targets for autumn new freshmen and transfers with input from various constituencies,” Stephenoff said. “Off-quarter enrollment is generally a function of autumn numbers and are estimated for university budget planning purposes.”
With the largest student enrollment in the country, ASU deploys a number of enrollment strategies to ensure the school is diverse geographically and ethnically, said Kent Hopkins, vice provost for enrollment management.
“Our goal is to make sure that we have facilities and programs to provide all qualified Arizona students with access to high quality education,” Hopkins said.
Gordon Chavis, associate vice president of undergraduate admissions and student financial assistance at UCF, said, “We are interested in quality enrollment growth that ranges between 2 percent to 3 percent each year.”
While there are 511 more in-state students than a year ago, there are almost 335 more out-of-state students compared to winter 2011.
The greatest percentage of non-Ohio enrollment comes from the international student population, with an increase of 17.2 percent.
In terms of ethnicity, the report shows an increase of 209 Hispanic students for the combined campuses — a 13.8 increase from winter 2010.
OSU’s Office of Enrollment expected to see an increase in the various enrollment categories compared to last year because increased enrollment targets and higher retention rates are in OSU’s enrollment plan.
