MANKATO — Several area colleges are expecting enrollment gains this fall, due to new programs, new buildings or just general demographic trends.
Here's a rundown:
South Central College, busy rolling out the first semester of its new mission, is seeing a big increase in enrollment.
Earlier this year, SCC announced that it would be expanding from being a technical college to being a community/technical college. Starting this fall they'll be offering and associate of arts degree, which means they've had to add faculty and expand programs to meet what they claimed would be a heavy-demand academic niche.
So far, they've been right. Academic Affairs Vice President Larry Lundblad said they expected to have about 150 students to enroll in the AA program. As of this week, they have 200 admitted, and they expect another 100 by the time classes start.
"We've got a lot of interest in AA program," Lundblad said. "But also the health programs are strong as well."
Bethany Lutheran College during the past several years has been transforming itself from a two-year to a four-year liberal arts college. It has elevated many of its disciplines to four-year status, and plans to add more as the need arises, and as they fit into its mission.
Steve Jaeger, Bethany's vice president for student affairs, said applications are still open for fall semester and are still coming in. He said he expects the college's enrollment to hold steady this year in an environment that he says is getting more competitive.
"Demographically, there are fewer high school students out there," Jaeger said. "For us to maintain our freshman numbers will continue to be a challenge for us."
Bethany officials look at overall GPA and ACT like everyone else, but they also look at how a student did on college preparatory coursework.
"If we find out that their core GPA is pretty solid, we're far more interested in that than how they did on a test on a Saturday morning."
They're also becoming more selective than they were, say, 10 years ago. When it was strictly a two-year college, Jaeger said, predicting success was slightly less complicated. But now that most students who come to Bethany do so for the four-year programs, admissions officials must assess the likelihood of a student successfully completing four years of higher education.
Enrollment at Minnesota State University is expected to climb again this fall, ensuring the university's total student body stays above the 14,100 mark for the second consecutive year.
Admissions Director Walt Wolff said that while they won't have solid numbers until school starts, he expects a 2 percent bump in total enrollment.
That includes 2,200 new freshman and nearly 1,000 transfer students.
"Everything's looking positive," Wolff said. "Everything right now is running a little bit above last year."
Results at other four-year universities in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system are about the same, Wolff said.
One thing that is having a positive effect on new students is the complexion of some key spots on campus. The Centennial Student Union, for example, just underwent a $12 million renovation that included modern dining facilities.
Said Wolff, "They love it. It's been a wonderful addition to the campus."
Also, while campus tours to prospective students do not include a swing through in-progress projects such as the Otto Arena student recreation center, just the idea of a new place to work out is enticing to students.
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