A crop of new Billikens inundated campus this fall, filling residence halls and classrooms to the brim. These fresh Billikens are contributing to what is now the peak enrollment year at Saint Louis University. Steady increases in new freshman applicants, international students and transfer students have raised questions about how the University is going to adjust to a larger population.
The University census, compiled each year after the fourth week of classes, was released on Sept. 17 and revealed a steady jump in the number of transfer students and in international students entering the English as a Second Language program.
A total of 13,785 students fill the campus this year, which includes graduate, professional and undergraduate students. Based on 28 years of data, SLU enrollment has been at a steady upward trend over the past 10 years and 2010 is the peak year, said Brett Magill, the director of institutional research and data integrity.
New freshman applicants are categorized based on their status as traditional, non-traditional, international traditional and international ESL status. Traditional students include first-time students and non-traditional students, or those entering the Professional Studies or Philosophy and Letters programs.
New freshman applicants entering the Madrid, Spain campus are also included in the overall data. While total traditional and ESL enrollment has remained steady between 2009 and 2010, the University saw a jump in specific areas of enrollment, including transfer and international ESL students.
“Enrollment has always been increasing in a steady stream and it increases in different areas in different years,” Jean Gilman, dean of undergraduate admission, siad
Admissions efforts for the 2010-2011 academic year were targeted specifically at transfer students, both in St. Louis as well as outside Midwest feeder cities, by adding an additional transfer admissions counselor.
The efforts from the transfer student center have paid off, as this year SLU welcomed 422 total traditional transfer students, compared to 311 in 2009.
Part of the success in growing the student body can be attributed to the highly visible “Be a Billiken” marketing campaign, which rolled out for the 2008 academic year.
The campaign reflects the relationship formed between the Office of Undergraduate Admission and University Communications.
Every other year, the Office of Undergraduate Admission conducts an admitted student questionnaire to assess why students either did or did not enroll in SLU.
“[Students] had glowing things to stay about our academic programs, but what we were missing was team spirit,” Gilman said.
Since its implementation in 2008, the campaign has had a direct impact on enrollment data.
Total traditional domestic freshmen applicants increased from 1,483 in 2008 to 1,536 students in 2009. As long as the campaign remains successful, it will continue to be a part of admissions efforts.
“I don’t see it going away in the next year, it has helped a lot with enrollment and students seem to love it,” Gilman said.
While domestic Billikens are being recruited through the efforts of this campaign, the Office of International Services also strove to increase the international student population on campus. International students, both traditional and ESL, constitute 1,000 students on campus for the 2010 year.
The amount of international students enrolled in the ESL program continues to spike each year, with 134 new students entering the program in 2010. Robert Barry, director of international services, said that SLU has an outstanding ESL program and that currently the program is comprised of more than 200 full-time students and more than 100 part-time students.
While the academic programs have risen to meet the demands of more international students, strain has been felt in discovering ways to help these students acculturate.
Barry said that the transformation of Des Peres Hall into a Center for Global Citizenship and the addition of two new acculturation counselors will greatly aid in this process.
“The progression has already begun. We hope to have everything in place by January, and this semester is a transitional one [for the program],” Barry said.
Barry said he hopes that SLU students and faculty will continue to work together to bring quality international students to the campus.
The increased trend in international enrollment surfaced after a presidential retreat some years ago where globalization was cited as a key goal, and since then, the office has been working with a large number of new international students and has also increased its efforts to send students abroad.
“We’ve had tremendous support from the students and we hope this will continue,” Barry said.
New international and domestic students created strains on the University housing system, a vital recruitment point for incoming students. When total enrollment numbers are considered, the housing spaces on campus were certainly tight this year, Kent Porterfield,” vice president for Student Development.
University-owned and operated housing is currently at 99 percent capacity, with about 40 spaces available as of the last assessment.
To respond to increased demand, University housing has made several adjustments, including converting larger spaces in several residence halls into rooms that accommodate more students, such as converting Reinert Hall from double rooms to triple rooms.
In 2007, the University started using Manresa Center as overflow housing for the beginning of the year until students could be accommodated in other areas.
For the 2010 year, the major modifications came from the spaces added by the Flats at 374 and also the on-campus residency requirement for second-year students.
“By adding the Flats this year, we’ve created greater density over time to raise capacity,” Porterfield said.
If enrollment continues on its current slope, the University may have to consider adding even more spaces or revoking the residency requirement. Porterfield said that Student Development is currently working with SGA and RHA on how to manage resident signups for returning students, and will make changes for this year based on feedback from last year.
According to Porterfield, the future for SLU housing and enrollment currently resides in speculation based on a projection of current data. Potential plans for housing could eventually include the reallocation of housing scholarships back over to tuition, a change supported by many student leaders.
Other plans advocate breaking ground on a new residence hall. The University has discussed new residence halls a number of times and has even considered some proposals, but hasn’t been able to identify the right opportunity.
“The student housing issue is important but it is also a facilities issue that has to compete against other projects and be considered in the whole of all of the needs of the University,” Porterfield said.
Though housing hasn’t made any definitive decisions, SLU officials said they expect the current enrollment trends to continue into the 2011-2012 academic year.
According to Gilman, increasing enrollment is not just about numbers.
“We also have a steady increase in the GPA and test scores of our incoming classes,” Gilman said.
With a collaborative effort between many University departments to increase the student population, the SLU community can continue to expect a steady stream of bright Billikens to arrive on campus each year.