dbeard@dominionpost.com
MORGANTOWN – WVU’s first-time freshman enrollment is down this year, Vice Provost Mark Gavin told the Faculty Senate on Monday. The drop was offset somewhat by improved retention of returning students, but ongoing challenges, such as the demographic cliff, remain.
“We are actively developing strategies to counter that,” he said.
First-time freshman enrollment for the Morgantown campuses is 4,129 – 200 short of the budget projection for the year he said. Potomac State enrollment is 316 – 74 short. And WVU Tech is 279 – 33 short.
The total for the three campuses is 4,724 first-time freshmen – 307 short, he said.
“The good news is that when you look at total enrollment we closed some of that gap by having better than projected retention numbers.
Retention was 83.4%, he said, a 2% growth over last year.
Total Morgantown enrollment is 22,939 – 78 short. Potomac State is 867 – 89 short. And WVU Tech is 981 – 35 short.
The total for the three campuses is 24,788 – 202 short, he said.
The shortage is close enough to budget projections, Gavin said, that they can address it in the budget through normal processes, and need no special measures.
Total fall 2023 enrollment, according to WVU figures, was 26,791. Morgantown enrollment was 24,200. Morgantown freshman enrollment was 4,377.
Scott Fleming, from the Chambers College, initiated the discussion of strategies going forward, asking if WVU has considered proactively extending in-state tuition to surrounding counties, and if WVU might be pricing itself out of the market for out-of-state students.
Gavin said that Steve Hahn, WVU vice president for Enrollment Management, is slated to come before the Senate in January to talk strategies and some more numbers.
“Though you haven’t necessarily seen proactive strategies publicly doesn’t mean we’re not considering them and developing them,” he said. For instance, WVU signed a transfer agreement with Southern West Viringia Community and Technical college, and they’re hoping to replicate that with other technical colleges to pave an easier transfer pathway to WVU from them, too.
Chris Lituma, with Davis College, raised the issue of parental concerns about programs remaining in place following last year’s academic transformation, where 143 faculty positions were cut and 28 undergraduate and graduate/professional programs were discontinued.
He asked if WVU could issue some kind of message about programs to reassure parents.
Gavin said while they haven’t said said anything is safe, they also haven’t said anything is in danger. Transformation is over now beginning the annual review health check, the Academic Unit Reporting Process to identify programs of concern, and successful programs.
Gavin said WVU has more than 300 programs after transformation. “We have a diverse range of offerings and that’s not going to change.” The Academic Unit Reporting Process metrics may warrant scrutiny for some programs, but the portfolio won’t change.
