COLLEGE NEWS

Rise in college enrollment slows

@APPCarol

College enrollments will grow more slowly at private institutions, according to National Center for Education Statistics data.

Because of some key demographic projections, the recruitment of traditional-age college students will not get easier anytime soon, according to education market research firm the Lawlor Group:

• At private institutions, while undergraduate enrollment increased 38 percent over the past eight years, over the next eight years it will increase by only 10 percent, according to National Center for Education Statistics projections.

• A smaller proportion of college students will be traditional age. Those under age 25 currently make up 60 percent of all college students, but that will drop to 57 percent by 2021, according to the center.

• High school graduate numbers are declining in all but 18 states, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. Through 2019, the number of high school graduates will be flat or decrease in every region except the South, according to the commission.

At the Shore, one private university’s 2014 enrollment numbers have shown some growth while the others shrank.

Georgian Court University’s freshman class is smaller this year than last, with 241 full-time freshmen joining the Catholic school’s student body this September. Last year, 293 freshmen enrolled in the fall semester. President Rosemary E. Jeffries said the university has been more discriminating in its selection because too many students have been academically unprepared for college coursework.

But Monmouth University in West Long Branch says it’s expecting 1,070 full-time students beginning the fall semester over last year’s 906.

“We are attracting an increasingly competitive pool of students, from the region, and internationally from as far away as Beijing and Delhi,” said President Paul R. Brown.

Robert Mc Caig, vice president for enrollment management, credits the positive enrollment report to intensified outreach, increased commitment to student scholarships and Monmouth’s first year using the Common Application.

GPAs of incoming students have risen from an average of 2.98 in 2004 to an estimated 3.36 in 2014.

Tuition rose at Mounmouth by $1,292 this year, from $30,390 in 2013 to $31,682.

Contributing: Amanda Oglesby