http://blog.al.com/breaking/2008/09/ua_s...ml#preview
UA system head count up but UAB enrollment dips
Posted by The Associated Press September 22, 2008 1:33 PM
Categories: Education
BIRMINGHAM -- The University of Alabama System's enrollment hit a record 50,000 students this fall, but the overall head count dipped slightly at UAB while UAH showed a slight gain.
Officials at the University of Alabama registered 5,116 freshmen this year. That's the largest entering class in history. UA's head count is a record 27,052, an increase of 5.7 percent, or 1,472 students over last fall.
Enrollment at the University of Alabama in Huntsville was 7,431 this fall, up 2 percent over last fall.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham saw undergraduate enrollment fall by 427 students, for a total of 10,369. But graduate student enrollment shot up by almost 7 percent, growing from 4,449 to 4,755. Total enrollment, including medical programs, was 17,281. That's a decline of 49 students from last year.
Isn't the enrollment drop planned?
No our goal on undergraduate enrollment is to stay same but improve the study body - the transition from an access/commuter school to a more traditional campus - you can expect some bumps ether way in enrollment.
BlazerFromMD Wrote:Isn't the enrollment drop planned?
I heard this story on NPR yesterday. Enrollment is important, but so are admittance statistics. Does anyone know if UAB's avg. ACT went up or down?
JxGx78 Wrote:I heard this story on NPR yesterday. Enrollment is important, but so are admittance statistics. Does anyone know if UAB's avg. ACT went up or down?
I read [somewhere] fall 2008 entering freshman class avg. ACT score was the highest in history.
I'll try to find the article.
For now, this is what I've found
fall 2007 was 23.7
http://main.uab.edu/show.asp?durki=99160
fall 2008 above 24
http://main.uab.edu/Sites/MediaRelations/About/
BlazerFromMD Wrote:Isn't the enrollment drop planned?
I was under the same impression. A few years back I heard that in the coming years the University planned to cut down on the number of undergrads enrolled.
Quality over quantity, I like it.
Unlike UAT, which apparently is enrolling anything that breathes.
On a serious note, today's University culture isn't as much about increasing freshmen numbers as it is increasing the quality of those freshmen. Why? Well, in most states, Tennessee included (I don't know about Alabama), but per-pupil funding is based on a formula. You get less dollars per freshman than you do per senior and graduate student. Therefore, the numbers that most colleges are most concerned about aren't the numbers of freshmen, but the retention rate from year to year.
Most colleges address this in one of two ways: Admit as many freshmen as you can, knowing a certain number will fail, but hoping that enough of them move on to each year to keep those larger dollar amounts rolling in. Or, you can admit fewer students, but a higher quality of student, who is more likely to pass and be retained. Studies show that schools that go the latter route have a substantially higher retention rate.
Additionally, many states are adding incentives for students who score highly on certain exams, such as the GRE and LSAT. If you admit higher quality freshmen, you are likely to see higher scores on those exams, meaning bonus dollars for your coffers. At my last institution, the state paid handsomely to schools whose students excelled on their national exams. The accounting program there is the only program in the country that has had a 100 percent success rate on the accrediting exam 10 years running. That means major bonus dollars from the state.
So, UAB is probably going about this the right way, though the media are missing that part of the story.
UAB needs to follow UCLA's model as much as possible.
By the way, the campus looks great. The green is gorgeous and will look even better when the trees are in and whatever monument they decide on is in.
I would like to see an exterior renovation of the Humanities Bldg. At least get that awful concrete covered up.
STLouis Blazer Wrote:I would like to see an exterior renovation of the Humanities Bldg. At least get that awful concrete covered up.
Amen!! Both the A&H building and the Education building are pretty ugly from the outside... but they are actually doing a lot of remodeling/renovations on the
inside of the A&H building (which is long overdue.) They have installed some pretty awesome teaching technology in a lot of the classrooms, and the walls, carpet, and chairs are all GREEN! It looks very nice and Blazer-ish...
uabbean Wrote:No our goal on undergraduate enrollment is to stay same but improve the study body - the transition from an access/commuter school to a more traditional campus - you can expect some bumps ether way in enrollment.
BlazerFromMD Wrote:Isn't the enrollment drop planned?
That's not quite right.
There was a planned capping of the enrollment at a lower level than in the past, but that planned reduction had already occurred.
careful.. post negativity toward UAB and you'll see your rep get crucified!
I appologize, Poor family planning on my part caused a slight dip in enrollment for 2008
#1 Graduated and #3 will not enroll until 2009.
Nothingfaced Wrote:careful.. post negativity toward UAB and you'll see your rep get crucified!
Only if you go out of your way to earn it.
Average ACT increased for incoming was 24.4, up from 24.1
Grammar-Nazi Wrote:Unlike UAT, which apparently is enrolling anything that breathes.
That would be anything that drinks and drinks heavily.