College enrollments on the rise

The poor economy has not meant fewer students this year at Inland Northwest colleges and universities.

In fact, as fall quarter begins, most schools are reporting strong freshmen enrollments, including some records.

Whitworth, Gonzaga and Washington State universities all have reported their largest-ever crops of freshmen. And while it’s still too early to nail down a precise number, it’s looking like a near-record at Eastern Washington University, where classes start today.

“We’re right on pace – and I mean right on pace – to meet last year’s head count,” but fall short of 2005’s record, EWU spokesman Dave Meany said.

Whitman College is reporting its second-largest class of newcomers. The Walla Walla school hasn’t seen more freshmen since 1978.

The University of Idaho reported earlier this month that it has nearly 5 percent more incoming freshmen this year than in 2007, a bump the university attributes to aggressive recruiting that ended a five-year enrollment slump. And North Idaho College has reported a 4.4 percent increase over last year.

Although not a given, hard times can bring more students to community colleges, which can be “an affordable place to start their educations,” said Anne Tucker, public information officer for Community Colleges of Spokane. She noted that tuition this year increased 5 percent to 7 percent at Washington’s four-year state universities, but only 2 percent at community colleges.

Because fall classes only started Monday – and because students can come any time of year – it’s difficult to get exact enrollment figures for Spokane and Spokane Falls community colleges, Tucker said. But numbers appear to be up from last year, she said.

Fred Pfursich, Whitworth’s vice president of admissions and financial aid, said university officials responded to the declining economy a year ago by deciding to send letters of acceptance to more freshman applicants than normal. They assumed more than usual would decline for financial reasons. And while that proved true, Whitworth still exceeded its self-imposed limit of 2 percent annual enrollment growth.

“Our freshman class was slightly larger than we would have wanted, but we were OK with that” because some private colleges in other parts of the country are having trouble meeting goals, Pfursich said.

Buoyed by factors that include good press, good sports teams and a stronger outreach effort, Whitworth saw a record number of freshman applicants – double the number of just two years ago, and an increase of 481 percent since 1993.

Whitman College also saw more applicants than ever before, despite an estimated cost of about $45,000 a year for families who don’t receive financial aid.

That meant both schools could be selective about who they let in, with Whitman admitting just 45 percent of applicants. Among the college’s 430 freshmen are 187 who were in the top 10 percent of their class and 188 who held high school leadership positions such as class president, newspaper editor, varsity sports captain or founder of an organization, according to the college Web page.

At Whitworth, the average freshman has a 3.7 GPA. That compares to about 3.4 at Washington State University and University of Idaho, and about 3.3 at Eastern Washington University.

Aiming at more top-tier students, WSU announced Tuesday that it will guarantee admission to applicants who rank in the top 10 percent of their class, or have earned at least a 3.5 GPA in high school – regardless of how they’ve done on SATs, the high-stress college entrance exams.

“One way to make top-performing students feel more appreciated and welcomed at WSU is to remove the pressure associated with waiting for that acceptance letter,” said John Fraire, vice president for enrollment management.