WSU Misses Enrollment Target, May Lose Cash More Students Overall, But 177 Fewer On The Main Campus

Washington State University has fallen short of its enrollment target and stands to see the Legislature ask for money back if the numbers slide much more this spring.

In announcing the figures on Thursday, WSU President Sam Smith gamely said they show an increase in the number of WSU students for the sixth year in a row.

“We have continued to be on a steady growth vector,” he said.

Headcount enrollment went up 1.8 percent. On the 10th day of classes, the traditional counting day, there were 142 more bodies on the Pullman campus and in programs at the Intercollegiate Center for Nursing Education in Spokane, the Seattle Center for Hotel and Restaurant Administration and the Internet-based Extended Degree Program.

Counting the Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver branch campuses, total enrollment in the WSU system is 20,537, a record high.

But a loss of 177 students at the main campus was made up for by 242 more students in Vancouver and 258 more Extended Degree students.

And the Extended Degree students count little as full-time equivalents, or FTEs, which are what the Legislature uses to determine funding levels. Overall, that number rose to 19,158, a modest .4 percent increase and 202 less than than the contracted target of 19,360.

School officials blamed the shortfall on a robust West Side economy that is keeping some students from pursuing the traditional residential college education.

Gov. Gary Locke this spring vetoed legislation that would have forced WSU to give back about $5,000 for each FTE short of the targeted enrollment. But the Legislature still might be of a mind to ask state universities that aren’t meeting their targets to return some state money, said Sen. Jeannette Wood, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee.

“There are going to be a lot of legislators that feel that way,” the Woodway Republican said.

“If they’re not at their contracted amount, then the Legislature will look very strongly at taking that money back,” said Jim West, R-Spokane. By the same token, Wood and West said the Legislature will be willing to look at funding those schools that see an enrollment increase.

WSU might not even wait to be asked to return money if Pullman’s spring enrollment drops and causes further damage to the yearly FTE average, said Larry Ganders, the school’s Olympia lobbyist.

“If our spring numbers are disappointing, I would urge my institution to give some money back,” said Ganders, who weathered a tough legislative session when the Pullman campus numbers were down by 550 last year.

Pullman’s enrollment typically drops about 4 percent each spring as students finish their studies in December or leave for other reasons.

That would equate to a shortfall of more than 350 students from the targeted annual average of 17,403 for the Pullman campus.

But branch campus numbers tend to rise in the spring and the university will be making an extra effort to retain those students who might drop out after the fall semester, said Provost Gretchen Bataille.

“We have every expectation of retaining students for the spring,” she said.

, DataTimes