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(05-18-2022 06:28 AM)okgc Wrote:  

(05-16-2022 12:11 PM)broncofan1 Wrote:  Just spoke with a friend over in Admissions. WMU had over 20,000 applications this year. Best in a long time.

Also bringing in some 500+ new transfer students, mostly from area community colleges.

Wow
20,000 is almost crazy high number.
Has WMU EVER had that many apply? ?

That’s great considering WMU does very little if any advertising in the Metro Detroit area.I wonder if there is a general uptick in admissions elsewhere in Michigan.

(05-17-2022 04:19 PM)AllBronco Wrote:  Broncofan1 vs BroncoPhilly

OK, shake hands, go to your corners and come out fighting.

Nah. Not really a fight. We both want what is best for WMU. I've been in the enrollment and retention business for decades.

Let's just say it is VERY easy to look from the outside and say "just raise standards". We missed that opportunity in the early '00's when enrollment was at record highs.

(05-18-2022 06:28 AM)okgc Wrote:  

(05-16-2022 12:11 PM)broncofan1 Wrote:  Just spoke with a friend over in Admissions. WMU had over 20,000 applications this year. Best in a long time.

Also bringing in some 500+ new transfer students, mostly from area community colleges.

Wow
20,000 is almost crazy high number.
Has WMU EVER had that many apply? ?

https://wmich.edu/facilities/planning/enrollment

(05-17-2022 04:19 PM)AllBronco Wrote:  Broncofan1 vs BroncoPhilly

OK, shake hands, go to your corners and come out fighting.

This isn't a 'fight', we all want Western to succeed. It's just a discussion on what direction the school is going to take in the future. We all have our views on that, nothing wrong with debating and discussing them-everyone learns in the process.

(05-18-2022 07:52 AM)broncofan1 Wrote:  

(05-17-2022 04:19 PM)AllBronco Wrote:  Broncofan1 vs BroncoPhilly

OK, shake hands, go to your corners and come out fighting.

Nah. Not really a fight. We both want what is best for WMU. I've been in the enrollment and retention business for decades.

Let's just say it is VERY easy to look from the outside and say "just raise standards". We missed that opportunity in the early '00's when enrollment was at record highs.

It's more a question of not lowering standards, which seems to be what many schools are doing. In my view WMU leadership need to get past this idea of maintaining as big a student body as they can to spread out costs.

Part of that is the school needs to get serious about cost control-and I mean REALLY serious, not just going through the motions. If you get a handle on controlling costs your options going forward are significantly enhanced. WMU along with other state schools have historically raised tuition rates in excess of the inflation rate-that signals to me they haven't been serious about cost control. We could discuss that at great lengths, but that's a matter for another discussion.

Lowering standards like everyone else so Western can battle with other state schools for a diminishing number of HS grads seems like retrograde action to me. It's hanging onto the image of WMU as a 'all things to everyone' institution, those days are gone. It reinforces Western's image as just another regional state university, toss a coin to select which one to go to-CMU/EMU/NMU/WMU. That's not a plan for the future and it's not a plan for success. It's a plan for failure.

(05-18-2022 12:42 PM)BroncoPhilly Wrote:  

(05-18-2022 07:52 AM)broncofan1 Wrote:  

(05-17-2022 04:19 PM)AllBronco Wrote:  Broncofan1 vs BroncoPhilly

OK, shake hands, go to your corners and come out fighting.

Nah. Not really a fight. We both want what is best for WMU. I've been in the enrollment and retention business for decades.

Let's just say it is VERY easy to look from the outside and say "just raise standards". We missed that opportunity in the early '00's when enrollment was at record highs.

It's more a question of not lowering standards, which seems to be what many schools are doing. In my view WMU leadership need to get past this idea of maintaining as big a student body as they can to spread out costs.

Part of that is the school needs to get serious about cost control-and I mean REALLY serious, not just going through the motions. If you get a handle on controlling costs your options going forward are significantly enhanced. WMU along with other state schools have historically raised tuition rates in excess of the inflation rate-that signals to me they haven't been serious about cost control. We could discuss that at great lengths, but that's a matter for another discussion.

Lowering standards like everyone else so Western can battle with other state schools for a diminishing number of HS grads seems like retrograde action to me. It's hanging onto the image of WMU as a 'all things to everyone' institution, those days are gone. It reinforces Western's image as just another regional state university, toss a coin to select which one to go to-CMU/EMU/NMU/WMU. That's not a plan for the future and it's not a plan for success. It's a plan for failure.

I don't agree that WMU has lowered standards at all. The profile of our students has not been going down. If anything, they are up.

WMU just went through a budget cut of over $80 million. Not sure what else you expect in terms of "getting serious" about cost control. Raises in tuition are directly correlated to cuts in state funding over the last 25 years.

(05-18-2022 08:03 AM)AllBronco Wrote:  

(05-18-2022 06:28 AM)okgc Wrote:  

(05-16-2022 12:11 PM)broncofan1 Wrote:  Just spoke with a friend over in Admissions. WMU had over 20,000 applications this year. Best in a long time.

Also bringing in some 500+ new transfer students, mostly from area community colleges.

Wow
20,000 is almost crazy high number.
Has WMU EVER had that many apply? ?

https://wmich.edu/facilities/planning/enrollment

May 6, 2022 | Registrar's Office | Western Michigan University
https://wmich.edu/registrar/notes-2022-05-06