Idaho State University spring enrollment announced

Idaho State University's 10^th-day spring 2011 semester total student headcount enrollment of 12,173 students is down from last year's enrollment, primarily due to differences in how enrollment is now calculated.

Last year, ISU reported a record student total headcount of 14,521 for spring semester (spring 2010 enrollment was up 14 percent over spring 2009) so this year's total represents a decrease of 16.2 percent from last spring.

"We show a decline, but this is mainly because of differences in how enrollment is calculated," said Vince Miller, director of ISU Institutional Research.

The major differences in calculating enrollment this year, according to Miller, are:

• Early College Program students who previously took yearlong courses in area high schools were historically counted in the fall and spring; now they are only counted during fall semester. This change in reporting is due to the use of the university’s new Banner Enterprise Resources Planning system, which was implemented during August 2010.           

• ISU no longer counts high school students taking professional technical courses, known as "tech prep" in the university's headcount numbers, due to a new Idaho State Board of Education decision. Historically,"“tech prep" students were counted.

• ISU also implemented priority enrollment in the fall of 2010, a program designed to maximize classroom space and offer more options for students needing to add courses. Prior to last fall, students were not disenrolled for nonpayment prior to the 10^th day, and those students showed up in 10^th day enrollment numbers.

When making adjustments for these differences ISU's Spring 2011 10^th-day headcount decreased by 469, or -3.7 percent, to 12,228, according to Laura Woodworth-Ney, associate vice president of academic affairs.

Total enrollments numbers will likely climb by semester's end because of students who register later in the semester for a wide variety of offerings.

Positive ISU enrollment indicators include:

• retentions rates at the university increased to 62 percent, from 59 percent, for first-time, full-time bachelor degree-seeking students during fall 2010; and

• the number of credit hours per student is increasing.

###