As the number of high school graduates continues to grow and enrollment at top universities nationwide continues to rise, the UW System currently finds itself with 2,000 more students than available spots.
The skyrocketing number of enrolling students has stirred concern among education officials that universities nationwide, including those in Wisconsin, may not be able to successfully cope with this increase.
The National Center for Education Statistics reported a projected 15 percent rise in the traditional college-age population of 18- to 24-year-olds from 2000 to 2012.
Tom Snyder, director of the Annual Reports Program within the U.S. Department of Education, said these changing demographics were the most important component of increased college enrollment.
The fall of 2002 marked the fifth-consecutive year that college enrollment numbers increased. This trend is expected to continue, with NCES predicting about 17.7 million college students by the year 2012, which would amount to a 13 percent increase from 2002.
These prophesies could prove particularly troubling for state universities, such as UW, which tend to function on smaller budgets reeling from a lackluster economy.
“Admitting the number of students we’d like to has been a challenge for us, particularly this year with the massive budget cut we experienced,” said UW System spokesperson Erik Christianson.
Christianson did vow to keep admittance to UW a realistic possibility for qualified students.
“A lot depends on students’ choices in high school,” Christianson said. “Students need to be prepared before applying, because the bar for admission [at UW] has been raised, which increases the pressure each year.”
Pennsylvania State University, another large state-funded university, is also struggling with soaring numbers of applicants and fledgling budgets.
According to Bill Mahon, Penn State’s assistant vice president for university relations, Penn State receives the most applications of any school in the country and has received 10 percent more applications for fall 2003 enrollment than last year at this point. Despite budget pitfalls, PSU has increased its efforts at enlarging its student body.
“We are doing more with less,” Mahon said. “We have made a commitment to the state, alumni and students at Penn State to maintain quality, and we will.”
However, the University of Minnesota, which experienced a tremendous increase in applications this year as well, receiving 22 percent more applications this year than last year, decided to stop expanding its student body and instead focus on making do with limited resources.
“The budget is uncertain, and the number of students we enroll is the number we feel we can successfully accommodate,” said Rachel Hernandez, the University of Minnesota’s associate director of admissions.