Tag: enrollment

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Campus News

Houghton Welcomes Increase in First-Year Enrollment

Enrollment for the 2016-2017 year has shown significant changes in the make-up of the incoming class. Most notably, the ratio of incoming males to female is the most evenly balanced it has been in several years. Houghton’s director of admission Ryan Spear disclosed a 43% male to 57% female ratio, with 133 incoming males and 174 incoming females.

14141790_10153664391021916_8906889124382565243_nThe physical impact of the shift is immediately seen in regards to housing, as Marc Smithers, Assistant Dean of students for residence life, observed. “Roth and Shen are essentially at capacity this year,” he noted. Spear, observed the increase in male enrollment, while acknowledging the “disappointing” corresponding shift. “Female enrollment is down or flat,” he explained, comparing this year’s number of 174 to a previous three-year average of 185. Spear nonetheless positively noted “three years of growth among first year enrollments” overall, with numbers creeping up from 223, 238, 244, to this year’s 247.

Although Spear cannot immediately identify the reason(s) for the shift in this year’s enrollment, he explained three areas he is exploring. Spear noted the possibility of simply a “larger male application pool,” possibly related to Houghton’s first year using the common application, as well its own online application. He also mentions the draw of athletics, which he says are “trending toward greater parity,” with the male-female ratio at “about fifty-fifty” for this year’s enrollment.

Spear also intends to explore the draw of various academic programs, and noted the increasing cultural emphasis by incoming students on specific academic programs. “People more than ever want proof that they’re getting a valuable experience,” he said. “The first thing they want to know- is my program strong?” He noted various male-female ratios among departments for this year’s enrollment, such as female dominated adolescent education and biology, male dominated accounting and political science, and parity within physics. Yet Spear is unwilling to draw any immediate conclusions. He emphasized, “I don’t like simple explanations,” and noted the complexity of changes, such as this year’s enrollment.

Next year’s enrollment numbers and ratios cannot be predicted, but Spear and Smithers noted the questions that this year’s enrollment raises. “Is this a trend? Do we have the capacity?” are among these questions, Spear said. He noted various manifestations of the “bump” in male enrollment, such as Shen’s show room being “eliminated” to be used for actual housing. “We’re trying to figure out what to do next year if we have a similar kind of enrollment,” Smithers said, and noted “housing is the biggest thing because we have limited bed numbers to make available.” “It’s a good problem,” he emphasized. “I can speak for the RDs that it’s very exciting to have full residence halls,” Smithers said. He reflected on positive interactions with the incoming class, and stated, “In terms of residence halls, this can only be a huge benefit to us.”

 

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Opinions

Enrollment and The Hail Mary Pass

A Vanderbilt University study concluded colleges that had recently closed had enrollments of fewer than one thousand students and endowments of under $50 million. Many were religious institutions such as Bethany University in California. First year student enrollment drastically dropped – by 10% or more –  at more than a quarter of U.S. private four-year colleges over the past two years, according to the Wall Street Journal. Higher education experts foresee a death spiral for small private schools due to an overreliance on tuition revenue and a scarcity of large endowments.

JFGVHoughton College has been affected by low enrollment over the past several years. Last year, Houghton missed their enrollment target and the administration enacted austerity measures such as staff layoffs, closing of floors in dorms, and cutbacks to underperforming academic and sports programs. Houghton has survived more than a century of wars, depressions, and social changes. The problems faced today are found within rapidly changing local and national demographics. As Western New York loses 1% of its population every two years and families move south, the possibility of a vibrant local enrollment diminishes. In addition, our winters make Houghton a tough sell to out-of-state students.

The national numbers are even more implacable. As high school graduating class size declines, those who graduate are deciding in larger numbers not to attend college. Private liberal arts schools continue to be dominated by white, female students. At open access colleges, which accept at least 80% of applicants, enrollment for African-Americans and Hispanics doubled in the past decade.

Religion in America is also changing, according to Pew Research. In 1955, our country was composed of 70% mainline Protestant faiths. Today, Protestants account for 50%. Catholics and non-denominational Christians are now up to 36%.  Houghton College and Dean Michael Jordan have been very accepting of all Christian faiths, but Houghton should include our Christian diversity more when promoting the school.

The dawn of online education also hurts enrollment. According to a Babson College survey, 32% of students nationally had enrolled in an online course. To add fuel to the fire, many liberal arts schools have simply priced themselves out of the market. Tuition costs have risen beyond the inflation rate and the ability to find a job to pay off debt has severely diminished due to a poor job environment.

Every problem has solutions and Houghton has responded with many positive initiatives to assist in this year’s enrollment, which is up 10%, or about thirty students, from last year’s numbers.  The increase can be attributed to an agreement with Indiana Wesleyan to launch Houghton education online, a newly opened associate’s degree program in Buffalo, the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, and an increased effort to attract foreign students in Hong Kong. These endeavors have moved the football down the field a few yards, but more students can be added at a low cost. Houghton would score a touchdown by using its best asset.

Through a generous gift by the Kerr-Pegula family, we have trumped nearly every college in the Northeast with our athletic facilities. Houghton has also spent a lot of money to complete the project. There has been a growing population of students who play sports at Houghton. According to Skip Lord, Houghton’s Athletic Director, 25% of students participate in athletics, with a goal of a 33%. The ratio is excellent, but consider elite academic schools such as Haverford College and Williams College with nearly 40% of their students playing varsity sports. Athletics attract students to come to campus, stay on campus, take up residence, and buy Houghton sports themed apparel. Our teams recruit players at camps and give Houghton visibility. Houghton athletes establish recruiting pipelines from their former high schools. Coaches have a distinct advantage of selling the college over an admissions officer as athletes and their parents are easily swayed by the opportunity to play at the next level.

Recently, the addition of several new sports has helped enrollment. Of those additions, baseball has been the biggest success adding more than 30 students. Coach Brian Reitnour has recruited students from Colorado, Washington, New Jersey, Tennessee, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Canada and British Guyana. We could add more students by relaunching low-cost, official JV teams. Sports like soccer and baseball are ripe for JV programs and could add 50 students. Houghton is well known for its equestrian studies and runs one of best equestrian summer camps. Could not Houghton mirror the program and competition schedule of Centenary College of New Jersey, which packs ninety students on the equestrian team?

However, the enrollment touchdown pass for a small college is to add a football team with a promise of over one hundred new, paying students. Since 2009, over 40 new college football programs have been added. Many programs have helped small private schools such as Hendrix College reverse the enrollment death spiral. Seton Hill also found enrollment in football. The school’s president noted to The New York Times, “I could have started a spiffy new major of study, spent a lot of money on lab equipment and hired a few new high-powered professors; I might have gotten 25 more students for that. Instead, I started a football team, brought in hundreds of paying students, added a vibrant piece to our campus life and broadened our recognition factor.” College football is a game changer for small schools. Besides just boosting enrollment it can eliminate low male ratios and attract new Christian minorities and ethnic, Catholic students that might not consider Houghton. Football can also add a 25 person cheerleader squad and a 60 student marching band to our vibrant music community.

In sum, Houghton doesn’t have to be a small school casualty. We must acknowledge that demographic shifts and technological changes are moving rapidly and are beyond our control. With our athletic facilities, Houghton College has distinct advantage to reverse a national trend. How we react and adapt to those trends will be how our future is determined.

 

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News

After a Two Year Decline, the Incoming Class is Up 10% From Last Year

After two straight years of decline in enrollment, Houghton’s numbers have risen again. “We are back up,” said Eric Currie, Vice President for Enrollment Management.

There are 302 new students this fall, more than a ten percent increase compared to last year’s incoming class of 277. Of those 302 students, 50 are transfers and 26 are international. China, Cameroon, Nigeria, Uganda, and Venezuela are just a few of the countries represented by the new students at Houghton.

In order to bring numbers up this semester the admissions team, alongside the marketing and the communications offices, thought of new ways to advertise Houghton College. “We started with updating the branding of the college,” said Ryan Spear, Associate Director of Admission. Through things like the “Rethink” campaign, Spear said the admissions team wanted to challenge prospective students to reconsider their education and what it means to them.

In an effort to reach out to prospective students, the admissions team made appearances this summer at events such as Soulfest, Creation, and Kingdom Bound. Also, the addition of new sports teams and the Kerr-Pegula athletic facility assisted in the increase in numbers of enrollment.

JoshDuttweiler_AdmissionsAdmissions attempted to emphasize the personalization of the application process, to which Currie and Spear attribute the success of incoming new students. Things such as personalized acceptance letters and arranging a perspective’s visitation day in an attempt to accommodate their interests are a few things that “set Houghton apart from other schools,” said Spear.

Even though it is time consuming to personalize so much of the prospective student process, it is certainly worth it to Spear. Prospective students ranked Houghton very high in personal communication. “My acceptance letter was really sweet and personal, it included things from my application and mentioned my recommendations which was cool,” said freshman, Erica Barney.

Admissions counselors helped incoming students to prepare and eager to attend Houghton. Barney said that her admissions counselor was “really sweet and right off the bat and was talking to me about what to look forward to when I came to Houghton.”

It wasn’t always easy getting potential students to enroll though, Currie said economics was the largest struggle this past year. In a survey taken by prospective students, the majority said the greatest barrier of being unable to attend Houghton was finances. Spear said fear of loans and affordability of  tuition kept potential students from applying to Houghton.

Now Houghton has a partnership with the Loan Repayment Assistance Program foundation (LRAP) to help out with those financial issues. Spear said that the LRAP serves as a “safety net for students.” This program covers up to 100% of all federal, private, and Parent PLUS loans at no cost to the student or parent. Spear said, “It addresses people’s financial confidence and allows students to pursue their calling right away.”

Admissions is hoping to meet their stretch goal of 315 enrolling new students in the fall of 2015 and is already preparing for next year, Currie said,“We are already in full swing.” Admissions recently ran their first email campaign and have already started to receive applications from prospective students. Spear said admissions staff will continue the personalization that is so well known of the college.

Admissions is reaching out to the largest number of students ever, visiting over 150 college fairs and 225 high schools this fall. Though that is likely to draw in many perspectives, the admissions team is trying not to get ahead of themselves. “We are trying to be realistic on what we can attain,” said Currie.

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Opinions

Are Students Just Looking to be Entertained?

Earlier this week, CAB decided to cancel its Houghton’s Got Talent (HGT) event due to lack of student participation (for further elaboration, see “Houghton’s Got Talent Cancelled” on the front page of this issue.) A student life representative came to the Star office that evening to discuss the issues surrounding the cancellation. He posed a question: “Are Houghton students looking to be entertained more than they are looking to be involved?” I think that this is a worthy question to explore and my response would be a resounding “yes.”

WebQuoteNow, given this specific example, we could talk about the problems of the HGT event itself and why students may not have been very excited to participate in it. For one, the conceptualization of HGT appeared to be much too like SPOT, especially last fall’s SPOT, but with significantly less hype attached to it. For another, it wasn’t very well advertised – consisting of an email announcing auditions over Christmas break, with a few mentions on social media. (And, if you’re like me, you’re much less likely to keep up to date with emails over break, much less think about school.) Finally, though the event was apparently a hit several years ago, there hasn’t been a standing tradition of holding it every year, making students much less likely to participate since they don’t know what to expect.

These are all important considerations before we could make the catch-all conclusion that students are less inclined to participate campus events and organizations anymore. In fact, as a singular event, we could dismiss the cancellation of HGT as a defining example, given all the problems outlined above. Yet, when we think about it, I think we can see it as part of a larger trend indicating a deadening of student life and participation.

Let’s consider a few more examples. A good example may be the decreasing involvement in student government organizations on campus. This can be seen most notably in the desperate emails pleading students to run for the empty class cabinet positions. It also evident in the SGA elections where there is only one name running on the ballot. Student government organizations appear to be running increasingly on a small group of people, with less input coming from the wider student community. (Be honest, have you ever attended an SGA meeting during your entire college career?)

Even here at the Star, we’ve noticed a drop in participation. Finding writers to take on stories is getting a lot harder than it used to be. This could be due to the drop in enrollment (for example, when I first began working on the paper in my freshman year, enrollment was hovering a little above 1,100, perhaps more; now it is about 900) but I don’t think this explains all of it. Many students that we have emailed seem to be less willing to tackle on important college issues and a little more hesitant at seeing their name in print.

There also seems to be less activism, less response to the changes or events that take place on campus. Always excepting the comment board in the cafeteria, students have been taking weaker stances on college issues and, if they haven’t, they’ve been keeping their opinions to themselves. Here at the Star for example, there have been significantly less letters to the editor and less opinions pieces taking on strong stances about college issues and events. Houghton is in the midst of a great period of change, we have a lot to react to, either in protest or support. For instance, there is the always-problem of low enrollment prompting financial problems, program cancellations, rising tuition, a new athletic complex that is taking on more and more debt – among others. I have yet to see a strong, public student opinion on any of these issues.

Where is the spark? Where are the young upstarts looking to change the world (or, at the very least, their campus)? Again, I think we have become too complacent, looking too much to being entertained. Or maybe it’s not looking to be entertained that’s the problem, but our own apathy.

Let’s fix this. We can revitalize our campus by getting involved – whether it be something like writing a letter to the editor, attending an SGA meeting, drawing up a petition, or even something weird like putting together a juggling act for the school talent show. We can do it.

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Stories In Focus

Houghton in Context: The State of Higher Education

Tuition rates seem to soar as enrollment drops.  Staff suffers position cuts and Contemporary Contexts is discontinued.  Students talk of the plummet of Houghton College as if momentary discouragement inevitably leads to downfall.

But according to studies of higher education in the rest of the country, Houghton simply stands as a participant in part of a larger trend, a number in a high percentage, and one that does not necessarily result in doom.

Courtesy of houghton.edu
Courtesy of houghton.edu

Many others echo the worry that those connected to Houghton College face.  In a Huffington Post article, Cathy Sandeen wrote that the “vital liberal arts tradition is under attack;” Christopher Moraff of The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote of the decline of liberal arts degrees, saying, “Each year more students abandon the study of history, philosophy, English, and languages in favor of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.”

In a “survey of 436 small private colleges and comprehensive state institutions,” The Chronicle of Higher Education found that “nearly half of the respondents said that they missed either their enrollment or their net-tuition-revenue goals.”

The survey also identified factors that may currently affect enrollment decline – the smaller the college, the more likely missing enrollment goals becomes; regional difficulties aided in more than half of small institutions in the Great Lakes region falling short of enrollment targets; competition surges as droves of colleges and universities work to recruit more students.

The fact that problems like low enrollment prove especially prominent at smaller institutions displays itself specifically at Houghton.  As President Mullen said, “With schools that are less than 1,500 students, your margin for change in enrollment is much less – just 25 less students makes a huge difference.”

Though many four-year institutions lose appeal to lower-cost options like online courses or community colleges, many traditional higher education programs remain hopeful and endeavor to adjust.

An insert in this October’s first issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education, titled “A Special Report on the Future of Higher Education,” consists of articles considering such a trend.  Throughout the various articles within, different reporters explain changes in institutions, both currently occurring and anticipated, among numerous traditional four-year colleges and universities that may better promote these institutions.

One such article entitled “Career Centers Stretch to Fill New Roles” discusses how multiple institutions recently started noting the importance of post-graduation success appeal, and began to modify to meet such a demand.

“A competitive job market, rising student-loan debt, and questions about the value of a degree have pressured colleges to prove that they are a good investment,” the report reads.  “These forces, coupled with a growing body of research on the value of experiential learning, have led colleges to rethink how they prepare students for careers.”

It proceeds to note that many colleges notice such a trend and act upon it, most notably “liberal-arts-focused colleges,” to dissuade the mindset that a liberal arts degree is not marketable.

Houghton College, as a liberal arts institution, also finds value in such an interest.  Mullen explained the college’s plan to improve its own career services, to gain appeal through “helping students translate their Houghton education into what comes afterward.”

Littering the media, higher education reviews and surveys, websites, and news about the seemingly deteriorating state of higher education can discourage, worry, and overwhelm those currently enrolled.

“What I think is really important,” said Mullen, “is that students realize that this is a revolution going on in higher education in our country, and what we need to be doing… is to think, ‘What does it mean to respond to this in a way that’s creative and powerful and that assures that we’re going to be able to have Houghton for decades to come?’”

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News

College Golf Teams Eliminated

Due to the enrollment shortfall this year, many Houghton departments and programs have had to trim their budgets significantly. One of the cuts directly impacting students is the elimination of both the men’s and women’s golf teams.

The golf teams were informed on September 10 that their teams had been eliminated from the athletics program. “I showed up for practice on Tuesday and our coaches were waiting there… I thought that maybe a tournament had been canceled – but it was actually the entire team,” said the women’s captain Hannah Fink, junior.

GolfThe decision “came out of the blue,” according to the men’s captain, Evan Castle, junior, “Basically we had two matches and were completely into our season – nobody knew that this was going to happen – and we showed up to our practice on Tuesday and we get the news from our coach.”

According to Dr. Robert Pool, Vice President for Student Life, the reason that the teams were informed in the middle of their season was due to the unexpected drop in enrollment in the beginning of the school year. “We thought – up until the end of July – that we would have been higher [in enrollment] than what we actually came in at. So it was, to many of us, a big surprise when we got to August and realized where we were with enrollment in terms of deposits.” This required the college to make emergency cuts for this fiscal year. “We had to cut somewhere,” said Pool, “A small piece of that was in athletics.”

The elimination of the golf teams is part of a larger amount of cuts that Athletics are being asked to make. In total, Athletics were asked to cut $60,000 out of their budget this year – the golf team taking a significant percentage of that number. According to Athletics Director, Skip Lord, “In a nutshell, every area on campus has had to make hard decisions relative to budgets this fall. That included athletics. This decision, along with other significant, but less visible cuts in athletics, were carefully weighed to accomplish the goal.”

One of the factors leading Student Life and Athletics to cut golf particularly is the relatively small number of students that it will affect. Both teams have about a dozen players combined, though this number varies between the fall and spring due to several players already involved in other seasonal sports teams. Another factor influencing the decision to cut the teams is that both the coach, Thomas Kettelkamp, and the assistant coach, Richard Halberg, are already employed as faculty members – so no jobs will be cut as a result of this decision.

Houghton introduced the golf teams last year when it made the move into the Empire 8 Athletic Conference, along with introducing other sports teams such as lacrosse, tennis, and baseball. The elimination of the golf teams should not impact Houghton’s NCAA D-III or Empire 8 standing.

Coach Thomas Kettelkamp and Coach Richard Halberg both expressed their dismay at the elimination of the teams.

“Personally I am a full time faculty and will not be impacted by the decision to cut the golf program but it was very, very difficult to tell the players that we are done,” said Coach Kettelkamp. Coach Halberg echoed Kettelkamp’s statement and said that he felt, “badly about ending our relationship with a great group of students.”

According to Kettelkamp, there were three prospective students looking into enrolling at Houghton to join the college’s golf teams, but he had to write to inform them that they should “look elsewhere for a college golf program.” Additionally, he believes that no one on the golf teams is currently intending to transfer as a result of this decision, but he said “if they ask me to help facilitate transferring to another college, I will certainly do so.”

Fink and Castle both lamented that they had not been able to complete the season as captains, the first time in these positions of leadership. “I had hoped to improve our record from last year. Individually, we all wanted to get better. Basically, improve,” said Fink. Castle said, “It’s a big bummer because I spent a lot of time with my teammates and my entire summer planning for this year. And it’s gone.”

 

Categories
News

Enrollment Numbers Short of Anticipated Target

Courtesy of houghton.edu

With the start of the Fall 2013 semester came approximately 280 incoming students, a number that falls just below the anticipated enrollment target and consequentially may elicit questions concerning the welfare of Houghton College.

“The goal for the past couple years would aim for around 300 to 400 students,” said Ryan Spear, Assistant Director of Admissions, establishing the fact that the actual number of new students coming to Houghton this fall follows a trend of low enrollment.

The total of first-year students, transfer students, and those returning to Houghton after taking time off for various reasons, comprises this enrollment number.

Spear acknowledged that Houghton, as a Liberal Arts institution and as a college in general, faces challenges in regards to consistently bringing in students.  “If you look at the media, a lot of the news stories out there are challenging that college is even worth it,” he said, “…that’s one thing that has been a challenge, not just for Houghton, but for all institutions – proving that it is worth it.”

Eric Currie, the college’s new Vice President for Enrollment Management, added, “In some places and areas, education has turned into an expense, not a value… we have to help people see the tangible aspects and purpose in having an education at Houghton College, and for that matter, in Christian higher education.”

One example of Houghton’s recognition of this problem and approach to eliminate it, Currie later said, is that the college currently demonstrates its value in a new way, by investing in families for longer than what was previously normal.

“We take a proactive approach,” Currie said, “by allowing families to enter into in a longer process or journey that has been normal in the application process… Now with the financial pressures that are out there, we see that we have to have a greater persistence.”

That persistence carries over to other areas of enrollment as well.  Spear identifies another obstacle the college faces in bringing in students, and how persistence in that may produce different results as well.

“There are things that are happening locally, regionally, nationally, and globally that all affect enrollment at Houghton College,” said Spear.  “One of these trends is that more and more students are studying closer to home, and Western New York has experienced a population decline during the past few years or decades.”

Another one of Houghton’s marketing and enrollment strategies to counteract trends which may hurt the college’s enrollment is to contact specific types of students, such as those currently enrolled in a community college, who may plan on transferring to a four-year institution like Houghton.

“We have moved into some deeper relationships and partnerships with some community colleges in the area,” said Currie while considering one way in which Houghton works to bring in more students in the future.

In the end, both Currie and Spear agreed that Houghton College faces its challenges in appealing to incoming students and in competing with other education or career-oriented options, yet both expect and currently see positive outcomes.

Although enrollment numbers fall on lower ground than Houghton hopes, Spear remained confident.  “It’s a challenge for Houghton to recruit – that’s for sure,” he said. “But we think that God is using Houghton in a powerful way in the world.”