Staff photo / R. Michael Semple .... YSU students get in a game of basketball at the Andrews Wellness Center on Saturday. From left are Devin Ritchie of Mineral Ridge, Jacob Maderitz of Girard, Aaron Frantz of McDonald and Matt Weiss of Girard.

YOUNGSTOWN — Youngstown State University lost 9 percent of its students during its annual head counts from 2014 to 2021.

The university is not alone in enrollment decline. Seven other Ohio colleges and universities of 13 examined by YSU officials saw larger declines over the time period.

Other schools experiencing student population declines include Cleveland State University, 10 percent; Kent State University, 12 percent; Ohio University and University of Toledo, both 16 percent; Shawnee State University, 19 percent; University of Akron, 37 percent; and Wright State University, 40 percent.

Experiencing population gains during the same period were University of Miami, 12 percent; Northeast Ohio Medical University, 10 percent; The Ohio State University, 5 percent; Bowling Green University, 4 percent; and Miami University, 2 percent.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, fall 2021 enrollment numbers showed no signs of recovery from the previous year’s declines. With 50.5 percent of institutions, representing 8.4 million students, reporting to the Clearinghouse as of Sept. 23, undergraduate enrollment declined 3.2 percent from 2020. The 2020 enrollment declined 3.4 percent from 2019, meaning enrollment nationwide declined 6.5 percent over the past two years.

Community college enrollment has declined 14.1 percent in the same time frame, the research center data shows.

“Far from filling the hole of last year’s enrollment declines, we are still digging it deeper,” said Doug Shapiro, executive director of the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center.

YSU President Jim Tressel told this newspaper’s editorial board during a meeting last week that an impact study done on Ohio universities shows that schools have just under a billion dollars of impact on their surrounding communities. YSU has either the top or second highest amount of impact on its surrounding community in every category in terms of people graduating from it and contributing to the community, he said.

Tressel noted the amount of grants YSU has been able to provide students has increased, and the percentage of students who are graduating also has increased, even as the number of students attending the school has fallen.

Tressel expressed some concern about declining local college-age students and noted that declines in local high school graduates has triggered declines in the number of local students enrolling at YSU.

Still, Tressel pointed out that retention and YSU graduation rates are improving.

“We are doing a better job of keeping our students,” Tressel said. “That’s a real plus.”

YSU’s six-year graduation rate in the last three years has been in the high 40 percent range, where it previously averaged in the mid-30 percent range. A chart on the Ohio Department of Higher Education’s website shows YSU’s six-year graduation success rate is 57 percent as of July 2021.

The ODHE website shows Wright State and the University of Akron at 58 percent and the University of Toledo at 60 percent for six-year graduation rate, while Ohio State’s is 87 percent. No similar data could be found for four-year graduation rates.

BIG FACTOR

The number of local high school students deciding to attend YSU has declined in recent years.

A 15-year study of students graduating from six area school districts reveals a decline in the number of students graduating from local districts.

Austintown Fitch, Boardman and Warren G. Harding high schools each went from highs of more than 400 graduates to 308, 288 and 215, respectively in 2021.

Still, Tressel noted, “We are attracting students of high caliber from these area schools.”

Tied to this, “We are graduating more people.”

YSU’s Honors College has grown from 300 student to more than 1,200 in seven years, he noted. Its students also do volunteer work sometimes with low-income or underprivileged local K-12 students throughout the area to introduce them to the opportunities at YSU and possibilities for their futures.

REVENUE

Seeing high rates of YSU students graduating while the number of local incoming students is declining adds to the enrollment declines and triggers revenue challenges, he noted.

Tressel said the majority of the university’s revenue comes from student tuitions.

“We could ill afford the loss of revenue,” he noted.

To help offset the declining numbers of local high school students, the university is being more aggressive in attracting students in other ways. That includes increasing the number of international students and working more closely with business and industries to create programs that address their needs through certificate programs. It also has increased the number of postgraduate master degree programs and online programs.

YSU has increased its marketing in the Cleveland and Pittsburgh regions. But Tressel acknowledged that all area colleges and universities are experiencing the same issues as YSU and also are increasing their efforts to attract new students and improve their programs.

“It is causing some tough decisions,” Tressel said.

TUITION

YSU had the third-lowest average net price of attendance for students awarded grants and scholarships when compared with 13 other Ohio main campus colleges and universities in the 2019-2020 school year, according to the university.

Only Shawnee State University, $9,778, and Central State University, $10,260, had lower costs than YSU’s $11,785. Wright State University, $14,880, and Cleveland State University, $16,007, were the next lowest tuition rate in that year.

The public university with the highest rate was Miami University-Oxford, with a cost of $24,345, according to YSU’s presentation.

Tressel said the university’s philanthropic arm, the YSU Foundation, has been doing an excellent job of attracting millions of dollars.

“The foundation raised more than $120 million over the last seven years, with $70 million dedicated to student scholarship,” Tressel said. “Our students have needs in the financial area. Having these scholarships and grants is a recruiting tool. It is great to have merit scholarships.”

A portion of the foundation’s money, between $14 million and $15 million, has been used for faculty research.

“I am not sure where we would be without the foundation,” Tressel said.

rsmith@tribtoday.com