I don't know exactly why I'm posting this, but I figure if I don't, pmp6nl will--just to brag about percent enrollment increases. So I'm beating him to the punch.
If you don't know, Tu-Uyen Tran is one of the better reporters for the Grand Forks Herald, and has recently begun covering the higher education news.
This comes from his blog (which is usually a fun place).
Unanswered questions about UND's enrollment
UND spring enrollment came out yesterday and the numbers are up a bit from the year before.
The initial analysis in my story was that UND was counting on growth in the number of Minnesotans, graduate students and distance learning students to bolster its numbers.
Now that I've actually had a little time to think, let's take a different approach:
[Check out the table]
Given the differences between UND and NDSU, particularly in specialized departments such as aerospace sciences, which UND has, and architecture, which NDSU has, it may not make sense to treat them as full rivals. Officials from both universities have traditionally underplayed their rivalry.
However, it's hard not to notice that UND's biggest area of concern, whether NDSU is in the picture or not, is undergraduate enrollment that's all but flat. (I figured out that number by subtracting graduate enrollment from total enrollment. As it's nearly 4 a.m. as I write this, there's no way to check if that's correct. Let's assume it is for now.)
There may be plenty of growth in grad students as UND points out with pride, but the majority of enrollment and tuition comes from undergrads and, really, the basic mission of a university is undergrad in nature. Most people headed for college are only looking for a B.A. so they can get jobs.
This is a topic I'll need to look into further. What is it that's attracting undergrads to NDSU and not so much UND? Is it the mix of programs offered? Is it student life? Is it Fargo versus Grand Forks?
In the meantime, UND's growth in graduate enrollment is pretty impressive.
A lot of that comes from distance learning, however, which, if I'm not mistaken, is mostly aimed at people looking for career advancement. That is, people who are in the work force who either don't have a college degree or already have a B.A. and want to upgrade to an M.A. This is certainly an important niche to fill. But, from what I know, I would contrast it with NDSU's goal of growing graduate enrollment to support its growth as a research institution.
UND wants to grow as a research institution, too. So the question is, how many grad students are those dedicated to research? That is, how many are going for a Ph.D. and serving as a sort of apprentice to some researcher-professor? That's probably another topic I'll need to look into.
It's wonderous how I get the best ideas for interview questions at 4 a.m., isn't it? Does Woodward and Berstein have to put up with this crap?
Posted by: Tu-Uyen on 2/12/2009 at 3:03 AM
Some of the comments are interesting, not least the ones discussing exactly why NDSU snags more undergrads than UND.