Enrollment booms bypass Tennessee State University

[NovaSkegee]

July 11, 2010

Enrollment booms bypass Tennessee State University
School shifts focus to boosting its graduation and retention rates

By Jaime Sarrio and Brad Schrade
THE TENNESSEAN

There were hundreds of them — bright-eyed high school students looking for an answer to one of the most important questions in their life: "Where should I go to college?"

They crammed into the Nashville Convention Center on a Sunday in April, lining up to speak to college recruiters from all over the country who were there to sell not just an education, but also an experience.

More than 130 college and universities stationed booths at the college fair. But Nashville's only public university, Tennessee State, was nowhere to be found. Administrators from the school said they didn't attend the fair because it's expensive and not always an effective recruitment tool. Critics say the university has missed several opportunities over the years to attract new students.

Nationwide, college enrollment has boomed during the past decade, and every four-year public school in Tennessee posted gains — except Tennessee State University.

Enrollment at the school has remained flat over the past 10 years, down from an all-time high of 9,100 students in 2004 to 8,800 students in 2009. Other schools, such as Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, have added thousands of students in the same period, increasing enrollment as much as 37 percent.

Several of the students interviewed at the fair said TSU wasn't their first choice.

Allyson Stephens, 16, a rising junior at East Literature High School, wants to be a pediatrician. But she's wary of TSU because of stories that the parties outweigh the academics.

"I don't want to go for the parties," she said. "That's not my major."

TSU's enrollment stall comes as colleges are becoming more reliant on tuition to offset state budget cuts. More than half of a college's revenue comes from tuition, according to the Tennessee Board of Regents.

Higher education enrollment has exploded nationally, driven by an increase in the number of college-age students — the children of baby boomers — and more nontraditional students heading back to the classroom, said Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers.

Affordable state schools like Austin Peay have benefited from the boom because they offer competitive instruction at reasonable prices. That school also has capitalized on the region's growth by building satellite campuses and designing attractive degree programs.

TSU hasn't met any of the enrollment goals laid out in its 2005-10 strategic plan because tuition increases, budget decreases, and more competition for well-prepared black students have affected the school's enrollment, school officials say.

Also contributing is a 35 percent drop in out-of-state students enrolling over the past decade. Fewer students can, or want to, pay the $17,342 in tuition and fees to attend Tennessee State for non-residents.

Out-of-state tuition at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville is $22,420. At Middle Tennessee State University, it's $17,916. Room, board, books and other expenses can drive costs even higher.

Complicating matters are impending changes to the state's funding formula for colleges. Soon schools will be rewarded for hitting performance goals — such as how many students graduate — instead of getting money largely for enrollment.

That means TSU has to get a handle on its declining graduation and retention rate, so it is stepping away from plans to grow its enrollment to 12,000 by 2015.

The school wants to improve its reputation by building stronger programs that attract high achievers. This fall, the school is partnering with alumni chapters across the country to attract prospective students and parents to campus through university-sponsored bus trips.

The university also set up a Facebook page and answers questions through it.

"A lot of that we weren't doing, quite frankly, in the past we didn't have to do," said Vice President of Student Affairs Michael Freeman. "Now, we have to show we want you here."

http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100711/NEWS04/7110343/Enrollment-booms-bypass-TSU

[NovaSkegee]

Tennessee State University
Enrollment including all races
1976 Total: 5,480
1979 Total: 8,438
1993 Total: 7,851
1994 Total: 8,180
1995 Total: 8,464
1996 Total: 8,643
1997 Total: 8,625
1998 Total: 8,750
1999 Total: 8,643
2000 Total: 8,640
2001 Total: 8,664
2002 Total: 8,881
2003 Total: 9,024
2004 Total: 9,100
2005 Total: 8,880
2006 Total: 9,038
2007 Total: 9,065
2008 Total: 8,235
2009 Total: 8,824

[NovaSkegee]

July 11, 2010

TSU struggles to keep pace with historically black peers

By Jaime Sarrio and Brad Schrade
THE TENNESSEAN

Defenders of Tennessee State University say it's unfair to compare the historically black college with other in-state institutions, but TSU trails even when it is compared with schools of similar size educating similar students.

TSU barely holds its own when compared with six other historically black institutions in getting students to return for their next year and in graduating them. And four of the colleges grew enrollment over five years, while TSU lost ground.

Examining these trends shows what's possible, even for schools where a large number of students come from poor families who rely on financial aid.

According to 2008 data, the most recent federal information available, TSU tied with Delaware State University for the lowest graduation rate of the peer group. Most saw a downturn in the graduation rate, but none more than TSU, which saw an 18 percent decrease from 2004 to 2008.

There was a similar pattern in retention rates — the percentage of students who come back for another year. All but one college posted a decline, but TSU had the sharpest decrease and the fifth-lowest overall score.

The school posted gains in 2009, which aren't yet reflected in the federal data that allow comparisons between schools from state to state.

Nationwide, there is a growing emphasis on using performance measures such as graduation and retention rates to measure colleges and universities. Tennessee's Complete College Act, passed in January, is an example of the increased role that performance data will play in funding.

But that type of outcome-based analysis doesn't always produce the best picture for schools such as Tennessee State University, which pride themselves on providing access for students who might otherwise be denied a college education.

Barmak Nassirian, associate executive director of the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers, said historically black schools are unique cases because they serve students with lower incomes, who often are the first in their family to go to college and who require extra student services to succeed.

When these students don't succeed, they can be worse off because of debt, he said.

"We finance equal opportunity in this country, and in the end, that's with loans," Nassirian said. "For the ones who stumble, who don't make it through, we leave them worse off because they do not get the wage enhancement and can carry debt they end up struggling with for a lifetime."

In Tennessee, black students are less likely than white students to graduate from college, and college entrance exams show they're more likely to start school academically unprepared.

Federal data show that almost 70 percent of TSU students receive the Pell Grant, which typically goes to those whose families earn less than $20,000 a year. That's the largest percentage of Pell recipients at any school in the state, followed by the University of Memphis at 40 percent.

President Barack Obama this year earmarked more money for historically black colleges and universities to assist his goal of having the world's highest proportion of college graduates by 2020. To reach that goal, colleges will have to enroll more under represented minorities.

TSU has the state's second-largest African-American enrollment. The University of Memphis has the largest.

But TSU's enrollment has remained relatively flat over the past five years while several of its peer schools have grown.

Virginia State University has been steadily adding students for the past five years. In 2008, its enrollment broke 5,000.

Virginia State spokesman Thomas Reed said school leaders know they must work to improve retention and graduation rates, but their strong academic programs are steadily attracting freshmen from surrounding cities and states.

"We're a tremendous value, we're very comprehensive — we offer a little something for everyone — and once you get out of Virginia State, we hope we will be able to put you into a job," Reed said.

Defenders of historically black schools say they have to overcome greater hurdles to achieve the kind of academic and enrollment gains seen by traditionally majority white schools. And sometimes the calculations used to measure performance indicators like graduation rates don't account for nontraditional students, who may find historically black schools a good fit.

Those include part-time students or students who quit school and come back, said Marybeth Gasman, a University of Pennsylvania professor and an expert on black colleges.

"If you were to take into account socio-economic status of students, the K-12 preparation of students and the per-student expenditure, I think you would find most HBCUs have comparable graduation rates," Gasman said. "UT isn't going to take the same chances on students as Tennessee State."

Also working against historically black schools is the fact that their alumni are less affluent, she said. That can affect private fundraising and scholarships, which plays out in enrollment and recruitment.


Credit for diversity
Gasman said historically black schools don't get enough recognition for their diverse student population. Typically there are more white students at black schools than there are black students at majority white schools.

For example, TSU's white enrollment is 21 percent, while the University of Tennessee-Knoxville's black enrollment is 7.5 percent.

Like other historically black schools looking to expand enrollment, TSU has talked about recruiting more races to expand the rolls. But Gasman says there is a danger in diversifying: It can dilute the historically black experience that other students crave.

"You might end up with a campus that doesn't have the ethos and feel of a black college, and there are some alumni that may not like that or want that to change," she said. "But I think in these economic times, to continue and thrive, they need to reach out to a variety of populations.

"HBCUs never discriminated against whites, whereas the opposite it not true. They don't have that legacy."

Quality is deciding factor
Jameka Johnson, 23, fell in love with TSU because of the small class sizes and the familial environment. The Indianapolis native got a full scholarship and because of that was able to follow in the footsteps of her parents, who also attended a historically black school.

She has liked her experience at TSU but says she's unsure whether she will send her children to the school down the road.

"I'd have to look at the school at that point," she says. "For me, I'll have to look at the quality of the school."


http://www.tennessean.com/article/20100711/NEWS04/7110347/TSU-struggles-to-keep-pace-with-historically-black-peers

[Capler]

"Administrators from the school said they didn't attend the fair because it's expensive and not always an effective recruitment tool. Critics say the university has missed several opportunities over the years to attract new students."

That right there is a piss poor excuse. It generally cost a college nothing to attend such fairs. Fairs want colleges there, the more,  the better. It is very apparent there is something wrong at Tennessee State. Also when a college uses higher standards as a way to explain a drop in freshmen class size, it suggest nothing but laziness on the part of the college and it's recruiters. If you raise standards, it only means that you need to increase your application pool. I know for a fact that most kids will consider a school if recruiters reach out to them.

[Jay_Thomas]

Allyson Stephens, 16, a rising junior at East Literature High School, wants to be a pediatrician. But she's wary of TSU because of stories that the parties outweigh the academics.

"I don't want to go for the parties," she said. "That's not my major."

  More of the same ole negro "all they do is party at hbcu's" crap still continues, I see. The mentality of too many Blacks in Tennessee...believe me, I speak from experience with em.    

Insert Quote
"Administrators from the school said they didn't attend the fair because it's expensive and not always an effective recruitment tool. Critics say the university has missed several opportunities over the years to attract new students."

That right there is a piss poor excuse.

Capler, it really is a "piss poor" excuse. Just another part of the reason TSU hasn't really grown in enrollment. They'll have to do better than that because many of the Blacks there aren't thinking about TSU; they talk down about it but LOVE MTSU, Austin Peay State, UT-Chattanooga, Memphis, UT to death.

Oh well....   

[Capler]

JT, when I was coming along, you heard that "party school" craps all the time  here in Carolina. You don't hear that anymore. As a matter of fact most black kids around these parts talk openly about attending a HBCU. The only thing that leads them to the UNCC's & UNCG's of the world is money. Don't get me wrong now, there are still some black folk around here who steer their kids to majority schools. But those parents are also focused on picking the highest academic rated school their child can get in. Like with white parents, it has more to due with bragging rights.  "My baby is going to Duke, Wake, Davidson,  Carolina." 

[Cholly]

What I used to tell my students is the SAME thing I was told as a freshman: "Party if you want. If that's all you came here for then it's going to be a short stay."

[Pmist]

I will say this reminds me of the 9P's.

*clears throat*

Piss Poor Prepartation Promotes Piss Poor Performance which Promotes Pain 

Can't remember where I learned that though....   

[Bison 4 Life]

There is no excuse for attending a college fair in one's hometown. That's just same plain old ignorant excuse making.

If memory serves hasn't TSU had a revolving door in leadership? That may be a caue for its  stagnation.

I just don't hear TSU name in any national or regional discussion to be honest. Outside of they being mentioned in football classics that's it.  I can't even tell you what programs they have from a noterity standpoint.

[NovaSkegee]

Enrollment
Tennessee State University
(including all races)
1976 Total: 5,480
1979 Total: 8,438
1993 Total: 7,851
1994 Total: 8,180
1995 Total: 8,464 (African American 5,563)
1996 Total: 8,643 (African American 5,904)
1997 Total: 8,625 (African American 6,139)
1998 Total: 8,750 (African American 6,469)
1999 Total: 8,643 (African American 6,747)
2000 Total: 8,640 (African American 6,631)
2001 Total: 8,664 (African American 6,518)
2002 Total: 8,881 (African American 6,652)
2003 Total: 9,024 (African American 6,690)
2004 Total: 9,100
2005 Total: 8,880
2006 Total: 9,038
2007 Total: 9,065
2008 Total: 8,235
2009 Total: 8,824

Middle Tennessee State University
African American  
2009 Total 4,025     15.98%

University of Memphis
African American  
1996 Total 4,576
1998 Total 5,526
1997 Total 5,118
1999 Total 5,919
2000 Total 6,077
2001 Total 6,388
2002 Total 6,111
2003 Total 6,564
2004 Total 7,254
2005 Total 7,126
2006 Total 7,240
2007 Total 7,246
2008 Total 7,156
2009 Total 7,628

University of Tennessee - Knoxville
African American
2002 Total 1,964
2003 Total 1,964
2004 Total 2,137
2005 Total 2,388
2006 Total 2,137
2007 Total 2,169
2008 Total 2,114
2009 Total 2,088

Austin Peay State University
African American
2009 Total 1,831

East Tennessee State University
African American
2005 Total 441
2006 Total 458
2007 Total 537
2008 Total 593
2009 Total 646

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
African American
2009 Total 1,580

University of Tennessee at Martin
African American
2000 Total 817
2009 Total 1,152

Tennessee Technological University
African American
2000 Total 282
2009 Total 431

[NovaSkegee]

From the information released it seems as it the university with the largest black enrollment in Tennessee is the University of Memphis.