The goal is simple: 16,000 University of Idaho students by the year 2020. The preparation, on the other hand, will be difficult, said Steve Neiheisel, assistant vice president for Enrollment Management.
UI President M. Duane Nellis initially announced the enrollment goal of 16,000 during his inauguration speech fall 2009. The Enrollment Management office has continued to create an expansion strategy for the next nine years, and Neiheisel said in order to achieve the 16,000 student mark, enrollment must grow an average of 3 percent each year. Enrollment at UI is currently 12,312, and he believes the goal is possible, but a few years for the transition are inevitable.
“I think the vision and the target is realistic,” Neiheisel said. “It’s going to take good management, coordination and a lot of commitment by the whole campus.”
UI has encountered modest growth within the past four years, but only after four years of decline. Neiheisel said UI ran into “tough institutional problems that impacted enrollment.”
Neiheisel said he believes his department has made up for the four years of decline, from 2003 to 2007, and is on the right track for growth. Since 2008, UI has seen a steady incline in enrollment, however, since spring 2011, enrollment only increased by 10 students.
The enrollment office has tweaked financial aid funds in order to appear more attractive to prospective students.
“We have made a number of major adjustments on the financial aid side so we could move forward,” Neiheisel said. “Prior to our changes, central funding supplied 90 percent merit aid and 10 percent need-based aid, now it’s 60 (percent merit-based) and 40 (percent) need-based.”
Along with recent account management by the Financial Aid Office, other changes within UI have occurred. The newly implemented Discover Idaho Program, an alternative option to the reduced Western Undergraduate Exchange, is expected to spark more out-of-state residents to attend UI. This program was created to give aid opportunities for prospective students from surrounding states that meet the required GPA or ACT/SAT scores.
Sol Jenson, Washington State University executive director of Enrollment Management, said he thinks the goal for UI is aggressive, but attainable.
“Because this number includes all students, it will be easier to have small increases in all areas of enrollment,” Jenson said. “To increase 4,000 students over eight years averages to about 500 more new students per year. This past year, WSU’s Pullman campus brought in almost 1,200 more new undergraduate freshman alone so it can be done.”
Jenson said he has been keeping a close eye on the growth of Idaho high school graduation rates that will affect both WSU and UI.
“Data shows a positive increase in demographics,” Jenson said. “More specifically, the number of high school graduates in the state of Idaho is on the rise so that should be a good opportunity for UI and also WSU to enroll more qualified students from Idaho.”
Neiheisel said he reviewed the current student population at UI and then used the information to form an idea of what future students will need in terms of academic resources. He said he is in the process of categorically identifying future UI students in order to facilitate them, including a significant rise in Hispanic students.
“We know what the mix of our 12,312 is,” Neiheisel said. “Now we have to determine what our 16,000 will be, then work toward that.”
Frank Zang, communications director at Boise State University, said he is supportive of UI’s efforts and stressed how important it is that more Idaho students have access to secondary education. BSU currently enrolls 19, 664 students, and Zang said the university has seen modest growth within recent years. He said there is a direct correlation between secondary education and Idaho’s economic development and quality of life, and BSU is becoming more selective with admissions in order to increase retention. Zang said they continue to seek high-ability students because enrolling students who are successful in high school increases retention.
“We also do a great deal of outreach,” Zang said. “We do this by working not only with the Northwest, but beyond. Working with high school counselors is a major necessity (for the recruitment process).”
UI Dean of Students Bruce Pitman said he also views the goal of 16,000 as a necessary challenge and considers it a high institutional priority. Pitman said efforts must be broadened demographically in order to make an impact on enrollment.
“A lot of people have made efforts to make this happen — it’s important, hard work,” Pitman said. “Steve (Neiheisel) is leading that effort and is working very hard to connect with other outside sources in order to increase the number of applications.”
Neiheisel said UI is in the planning process of being able to facilitate the expected enrollment growth. With a 3,688 student increase, the university would need to expand across multiple platforms, including faculty and staff, student resources and likely campus development — a possibility that might happen in the next eight years.
“There will be some facility implications, but we don’t have that level of detail yet,” Neiheisel said. “We hope to know this information within the next 12 to 18 months.”
With this growth, Neiheisel said UI does not want to compromise the experience and the quality of the students. A balance will be found within the next few years in order to preserve quality while increasing the quantity. If the goal is achieved, Neiheisel said he is confident it will bring positive effects to UI.
“Getting to that size (16,000 students) will provide some significant advantages in terms of the programs that we can provide,” Neiheisel said. “It will be a much healthier institution at that level.”