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YOUNGSTOWN -- Despite higher education in general facing trying times against a backdrop of a difficult region from which to recruit prospective students, Youngstown State University's enrollment has shown another gain.
"We're in one of the toughest recruitment areas," Trustee Charles T. George said during the YSU Board of Trustees' quarterly meeting Thursday morning in Tod Hall.
Nevertheless, according to data YSU released on the 14th day of this semester, a day that acts as the official census date for a final full- and part-time enrollment figure, the headcount is 12,423 students, up slightly from 12,420 in fall 2025. The fall 2024 semester had 12,164 students, the metrics show.
More specifically, the university had 9,220 full-time and 3,200 part-time students one year ago. This year's full-and part-time figures are 8,866 and 3,557, respectively.
Compared to this time last year, the number of sophomores and juniors rose while the number of freshmen and seniors dropped somewhat.
In fall 2025, the university had 1,556 sophomores and juniors each; this year's data shows 1,603 sophomores and 1,575 juniors.
This year's number of freshmen is 809, down from 840 in fall 2025, and the number of seniors is 2,170 this year, compared to 2,204 last year, according to the released figures.
Also, a mixed trend was reflected in the number of graduate and doctorate students between this year and last. In fall 2025, YSU had 2,280 grad students and 274 doctorate ones, compared to 2,241 students in graduate programs and 350 in doctorate programs this semester.
In addition, increases between fall 2025 and fall 2026 were seen in the number of students in associate and doctoral degree programs as well as those in nondegree offerings, whereas the number of students in master's and bachelor's degree programs during the same time dropped, the figures show.
NEW VICE PRESIDENT
In other business, trustees adopted a resolution to appoint Ross P. Miltner as YSU's vice president of legal affairs and general counsel, effective Monday, with a $175,000 annual salary.
Miltner earned a master of education degree in higher education administration in 2008 from Kent State University before earning a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 2012 from Ohio Northern University's Pettit School of Law.
During his four years from 2018 to 2022 at the University of Mount Union in Alliance, Miltner served as director of student accessibility services, where, among other things, he directed the university's compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, determined reasonable ADA-related accommodations for students' academic and residential needs and hired, trained and supervised students and graduate staff to provide support services, according to his resume.
As an attorney, Miltner served six years with a law firm in Parkersburg, W.Va., where he represented clients in more than 1,000 administrative law cases and provided supervision and performance reviews for administrative support staff, his resume states.
Among his responsibilities at YSU will be serving as chief legal adviser to the university, YSU President Bill Johnson, the board of trustees and YSU's administrators and officers. Miltner will be responsible to Johnson "for the direction, management and supervision of all legal matters of the university, including the provision of legal counsel, advice and services in all matters pertaining to the practice of law on behalf of Youngstown State University," the resolution states.