STILLWATER Okla.
Lower high school graduation rates, increased admission standards and stiff competition from neighboring universities caused a slight decline in enrollment across Oklahoma State University’s five campuses.
Overall, enrollment declined about 0.4 percent 32,265 this fall, compared to 32,402 last year, according to a report presented at Friday’s meeting of the Oklahoma A&M Board of Regents in Stillwater.
Enrollment at the Stillwater and Tulsa campuses totaled 23,005, compared to 23,307 in the fall of 2006.
“We knew we were going to have a decline in enrollment,” said Albert Colom, vice president for enrollment management at Oklahoma State University. “Our goal in the next two years is to turn that ship around.”
Colom told the regents the university has had serious competition from neighboring universities, such as Arkansas, when it comes to offering scholarships. Some schools were offering the same scholarships to students with ACT scores in the mid-20s as those with scores in the low 30s, Colom said.
“Parents basically come to me and say, ‘match it,'” Colom said. “We just couldn’t compete in some cases.”
