ISU expects possible drop in enrollment numbers for fall

Idaho State University is expecting student enrollment numbers for fall semester to be down slightly.

In a recent “snap shot” report, ISU projected enrollment could be down by about 7.5 percent. But the university said that number is just a rough estimate based on weekly projections. It’s not solid data yet.

The university said it won’t know it’s enrollment number, or the potential financial impact, until after the fall semester is underway.

Scott Scholes, the associate vice president of enrollment management, said there are too many factors that could affect enrollment for them to have any guarantee how many students they’ll have.

“For example, we have students that were here in the spring, and may or may not come in the fall, they just haven’t registered yet,” Scholes said. “Or, we have students that similarly go through the process and register but then now show the first week of classes. We also have cohorts that will register late.”

Scholes said roll up is also something that can skew the numbers a little.

“Right now, one of the things that ISU is experiencing is that we’ve had a series of classes that were smaller than the class before it,” he said. “And so as they roll up, when you look at the final enrollment number, that’s not necessarily indicative of students this year picking ISU versus not picking ISU. It’s something you project as you roll up.”

The number of international students is also expected to be down, contributing to the possible decrease. ISU said this is because the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission has determined some of ISU’s programs are too full to send more students over for those programs. Kuwait has decided similarly with overall university enrollment for its number of students. The university said this means incoming freshmen from those countries will be lower.

But Scholes said there are some positive projections for the fall.

“We have an increase showing right now, that we believe will hold, of an increase in Idaho first-time freshmen students,” he said. “We also have an increase in transfer students.”

The university said in an effort to try and maintain good enrollment numbers, they are focusing on recruitment, specifically for in-state freshmen. It is also focusing on retention of current freshmen.

ISU said the official enrollment numbers won’t be released until about 15 days into the fall semester.

“For example,