Post by CrimsonPhantom on Oct 21, 2018 10:53:04 GMT -7
UNM is not alone in its plight. Fewer freshmen matriculated at ENMU and WNMU this year.
But New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology – which, with UNM, are the state’s only research institutions – experienced a freshman surge.
After two years of losing freshmen, New Mexico Tech gained 62 this year, a 25.8 percent increase for a school where total enrollment usually hovers around 2,000.
Asked how it boosted the first-year ranks, admissions director Anthony Ortiz said, “We gave the New Mexico high school kids more attention – we went back to the high school more often, we hosted more receptions, we created better relationships with the counselors.”
New Mexico Tech did not increase scholarships, he said.
But that was clearly the strategy at New Mexico State University, which has 10.6 percent more freshmen this fall than last.
NMSU – which has seen its total enrollment crater 23 percent since 2010 – has aggressively raised its scholarship allotment. It went from $9.6 million in the 2016-17 academic year to $14.8 million last year. It’s budgeted to jump to $16.4 million this year.
The university’s new president and chancellor have credited that for the freshmen growth but have questioned whether it is the right method moving forward, saying it has created budget concerns and not yet raised the institution’s total enrollment, which dipped another 1 percent this year. A university spokesman said NMSU would adjust the amount of awards and the qualification requirements for fall 2019.
NMSU is among UNM’s chief recruiting competitors, though it’s not clear how many admitted UNM students opted for the Las Cruces-based institution. Hulett said UNM should get more information in the coming weeks about where its prospective students went instead.
But Hulett said he heard directly from some potential UNM students who had far greater scholarship offers at NMSU. One young woman, he said, told him she would get $5,500 every year at NMSU, plus the lottery – something UNM could not match.
“Her academic credentials as we have them were below where we could offer her a scholarship,” he said.
But New Mexico State University and the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology – which, with UNM, are the state’s only research institutions – experienced a freshman surge.
After two years of losing freshmen, New Mexico Tech gained 62 this year, a 25.8 percent increase for a school where total enrollment usually hovers around 2,000.
Asked how it boosted the first-year ranks, admissions director Anthony Ortiz said, “We gave the New Mexico high school kids more attention – we went back to the high school more often, we hosted more receptions, we created better relationships with the counselors.”
New Mexico Tech did not increase scholarships, he said.
But that was clearly the strategy at New Mexico State University, which has 10.6 percent more freshmen this fall than last.
NMSU – which has seen its total enrollment crater 23 percent since 2010 – has aggressively raised its scholarship allotment. It went from $9.6 million in the 2016-17 academic year to $14.8 million last year. It’s budgeted to jump to $16.4 million this year.
The university’s new president and chancellor have credited that for the freshmen growth but have questioned whether it is the right method moving forward, saying it has created budget concerns and not yet raised the institution’s total enrollment, which dipped another 1 percent this year. A university spokesman said NMSU would adjust the amount of awards and the qualification requirements for fall 2019.
NMSU is among UNM’s chief recruiting competitors, though it’s not clear how many admitted UNM students opted for the Las Cruces-based institution. Hulett said UNM should get more information in the coming weeks about where its prospective students went instead.
But Hulett said he heard directly from some potential UNM students who had far greater scholarship offers at NMSU. One young woman, he said, told him she would get $5,500 every year at NMSU, plus the lottery – something UNM could not match.
“Her academic credentials as we have them were below where we could offer her a scholarship,” he said.
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