Last spring, enrollment was 9,662. In spring 2020, it was 10,584; and in spring 2019, 11,382. Those numbers do not include dual-credit high school students.

Since 2019, ISU has experienced a nearly 25% spring enrollment decline.

Fall 2021 enrollment was 9,459, which means a 9.7% decline in fall to spring enrollment; fall to spring enrollments typically show a decline.

Asked about the potential financial impact of declining enrollment, Mark Alesia, ISU director of university communication, stated, “It’s too soon to know anything. We’re working on fall 2022 enrollment projections, and when that’s complete, we’ll finalize budget planning assumptions.”

Despite the downward trend, one ISU official says the university is seeing some positive trends in terms of fall to spring freshmen persistence and increased student applications for fall 2022.

“We feel pretty positive that we’re going to be turning this around here. It’s going to take several years for us to kind of start to build this back,” said Jason Trainer, ISU vice provost for enrollment management.

Increased student applications, campus visits and financial aid completions “are trending in a much better place than they were last year,” Trainer said.

One of the things ISU has been promoting is its Indiana State Advantage, a new initiative starting with fall 2022 entering freshmen that includes an out-of-classroom experience grant worth up to $3,000 in support of research opportunities, internships, service trips or study abroad.

ISU believes the initiative is having a positive impact on applications, which are up significantly. “Our first-year applications have increased by over 40% versus the fall 2021 class,” Trainer said. “Although this application growth will not likely correlate to an equal increase in enrollment, it does demonstrate the growing interest in Indiana State.”

This article was made available through Hoosier State Press Association.