St. Cloud State University is reporting 10,401 students enrolled this fall which is down a bit according to St. Cloud State University Vice President Jason Woods.  Woods joined me on WJON today.  He says they had just over 11,000 students enrolled in the fall of 2020.

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The down turn in enrollment isn't unexpected by Woods.  He says he researched college enrollment trends in 2013 and that information indicated that colleges and Universities nationwide would see a decline in enrollment.  Woods says reasons for this include a change in demographic trends which showed a decrease in the amount of high school graduates and a lower birth rate.  He says the decrease in enrollment isn't only happening at SCSU.  Woods says there are schools like the University of Illinois that are reporting record enrollment numbers but those aren't consistent throughout the country.

Minnesota State University, Mankato is a comparable University in size.  They haven't seen the declines in enrollment that St. Cloud State has seen.  MSU-Mankato has consistently over the past few years reported enrollment of over 14,000 students.  Woods says Minnesota State is a school they compete with for students but each school has different formulas they follow.  He applauds those working in admissions for the past couple of years dealing with the challenges due to the pandemic.  SCSU had an enrollment of over 15,000 students in 2015.

Woods says facilities can play a role in decisions made by students in choosing a college.  He says their facilities are in great shape to do what we need to do to offer a high quality high impact institution.  Woods says they did recently upgrade their admissions building and he highlighted the renovations at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Vice President Jason Woods it is available below.

 

 

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