Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Wright State vice president for enrollment management and chief recruitment officer Susan Schaurer is “cautiously optimistic” about next year’s enrollment numbers, an important issue for a university that has battled recent enrollment declines.
The early indicators are there, Schaurer said at the Wright State Board of Trustees meeting on Friday. Schaurer said there have been increases in the number of students applying who are coming directly from high school, and transferring from another institution and in the number of international students applying.
The number of students signing a statement of intent to attend Wright State as well as the number of students signed up for orientation is up almost 10% compared to last year.
Between fall 2011 and fall 2021, WSU enrollment fell 40%, from 19,511 to 11,469, according to the Ohio Department of Higher Education. In February 2021, trustees announced faculty cuts, citing student enrollment drops.
Despite the new indicators, Schaurer said she can’t guarantee that all of those students will enroll in the fall, especially given the inconsistency of the data from Wright State in the last few years.
Schaurer said the university will continue efforts to make sure students do end up on Wright State’s campus in the fall. Her office began a letter-writing campaign that will send accepted students a handwritten note in the mail signed by a Wright State student, staff member or member of the faculty.
“As we look at what indicates a student will ultimately enroll, it’s things like creating or completing that statement of intent, attending orientation and registering for classes,” she said.
