(From Southern News Service)
Efforts to grow the number of students at Missouri Southern State University have resulted in an unprecedented 7.7-percent increase in students for the Fall 2016 semester – and a historic high enrollment for the university.
As of noon on Friday, numbers provided by the Office of Admissions showed a total university enrollment of 6,229. The previous high, set in 1990, was 6,012.
The record enrollment follows the growth seen in the Fall 2015 semester.
The Board of Governors received an update on enrollment numbers during a meeting held Friday, Sept. 16.
Missouri Southern students are enrolled in 72,809 credit hours, up 6.9 percent from last year’s 68,101. The number of new freshmen choosing to come to MSSU grew from 925 in 2015 to 1,063 this year – an increase of 14.9 percent.
“It’s all part of a plan put into place a few years ago that is now coming to fruition,” said Derek Skaggs, dean of admissions. “We’ve stepped up our admission recruitment and marketing efforts, as well as our international and athletics recruiting.”
In addition to the number of new freshmen, the university has seen growth in the number of students coming from surrounding Lion Pride Tuition states – up 23.7 percent over last year. Two significant growth areas include Southeast Kansas and Northwest Arkansas.
Within the state of Missouri, gains have been made in attracting students from Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield.
Significant factors cited in the university’s enrollment growth include the expansion of the Lion Pride Tuition area; the development of new graduate programs; an increase in the number of dual-credit students from area high schools; changes to the university’s scholarship programs; new international recruitment efforts; and the development of the Yours to Lose Advanced Medical School Acceptance Program.
“Having the deans and department heads add and expand sections to meet course demand was also huge,” said Skaggs. “This was intentional – everyone has been working together to grow enrollment and serve our students.”
Dr. Alan Marble, president of Missouri Southern, said the numbers are reflective of the university’s work to broaden its reach and provide more opportunities for students.
“Enrollment growth like this comes from the collective efforts of our faculty and staff,” he said. “It shows what we’ve known for a long time – that Missouri Southern is a destination of choice for students taking the next big step in their academic and professional development.”
In other business, the board voted unanimously to name the upcoming addition to Reynolds Hall for Gov. Jay Nixon, citing his efforts to garner bipartisan support for the project. Located on the south side of the existing building, the three-story addition will be connected via a bridge off the main hall of Reynolds’ second floor.
The board also received an update on recent events held as part of the Great Britain Semester by Dr. Chad Stebbins, as well as a look at what’s ahead. For a full schedule of upcoming activities, visitwww.mssu.edu/greatbritain.
We can also be sure that Mizzou's freshman enrollment catastrophically cratering had something to do with it. When your decision about which state school to go to devolves to, for example, MSSU vs. MSU in Springfield, you might as well stay "at home". For many majors, is there that much difference between the two?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, MSSU doesn't offer an Computer Science degree, let alone an ABET accredited one, doesn't really do engineering, and is only as strong in science and math as the students attending and the faculty who teach them. Which can be quite strong, they with some regularity send a student to a MIT graduate school, but the physics major was almost canceled, only a very few students take (but it is the same curriculum as taught all the way up to MIT), until it was pointed out how fundamental the subject was.... And in that they beat a lot of small area private schools I've glanced at.