Around the Valley News

[DownGoesKansas]

We done got some real expansion smoke here...

https://www.extrapointsmb.com/conference-realignment-mvc-sun-belt-ut-arlington-belmont-cleveland-state/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

Love the idea

I guess I am in the minority here but I do not really see the point. It's not like we would get a TV deal so that benefit is out.

So then it seems like the benefit would be to become a regular multi bid league. I guess I just do not see any teams really making that happen and then we are just diluting the shares and decreasing our chances of winning the conference tournament...

This year example, we should be a multi bid league. I am just not sold on how that changes regularly by adding a few decent schools. Need to focus on current schools scheduling and what not.

[ronfitch]

If you haven't looked at our enrollment numbers in a while, they aren't good. We need more students on campus. It's time to start thinking outside of the box.

A WCF Courier story reported that Fall '20 total enrollment was about 9,500, nearly 2,400 fewer students on campus than in 2017 (https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/ed...936410c9b.html).

At a legislative subcommittee meeting in February, Nook told legislators that the UNI "campus has had a net enrollment loss of about 1,000 students this school year." (https://qctimes.com/news/state-and-r...a8cd4a8b9.html).

The UNI Fact Sheet at the Rod Library Special Collections shows enrollment over the years to 2017. The last time it was below 10k was 1977 (https://scua.library.uni.edu/univers...uni-fact-sheet).

[sevelev711]

I guess I am in the minority here but I do not really see the point. It's not like we would get a TV deal so that benefit is out.

The article talks a bit about this but the big perk would be the MVC schools getting a foothold into Texas/Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington area. Not just for recruiting, but for the actual student base as well. Which could be huge. Obviously it's a risk, but the MVC/UNI needs to start taking risks.

[DownGoesKansas]

A WCF Courier story reported that Fall '20 total enrollment was about 9,500, nearly 2,400 fewer students on campus than in 2017 (https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/ed...936410c9b.html).

At a legislative subcommittee meeting in February, Nook told legislators that the UNI "campus has had a net enrollment loss of about 1,000 students this school year." (https://qctimes.com/news/state-and-r...a8cd4a8b9.html).

The UNI Fact Sheet at the Rod Library Special Collections shows enrollment over the years to 2017. The last time it was below 10k was 1977 (https://scua.library.uni.edu/univers...uni-fact-sheet).

Those numbers are scary. People in the state wanted to kill UNI and it seems like they are succeeding. Curious to see what the bump this year/post covid will be?

[SteinPizza]

You have to like the thinking here, and the list/location of the potential schools mentioned.

[ronfitch]

Those numbers are scary. People in the state wanted to kill UNI and it seems like they are succeeding. Curious to see what the bump this year/post covid will be?

Upside of the WCF Courier article is that first-year and transfer numbers are good, as is retention of students from first to second year (85%, 15% higher than the national average).

I read somewhere in searching for these that UNI us up 5% for in-state first year students while Iowa and Iowa State both down. I will look for that.

[sevelev711]

Upside of the WCF Courier article is that first-year and transfer numbers are good, as is retention of students from first to second year (85%, 15% higher than the national average).

I read somewhere in searching for these that UNI us up 5% for in-state first year students while Iowa and Iowa State both down. I will look for that.

Please do, so rare is good news for the school.

[ronfitch]

Please do, so rare is good news for the school.

Found it - sorry for the delay.

This is from a February story in the WCF Courier:

"Both the UI and ISU saw a 10% drop in first-year students, while UNI actually reported a 3.4% uptick in freshmen. Still, UNI reported the biggest undergraduate drop of 7.5%, compared with 5.1% at ISU and 4.6% at the UI."

Two paragraphs prior in the story, it states that UNI's overall enrollment decreased 9.3% from Fall '19 to Fall '20.

In the lede, it states that the overall enrollment for Iowa's public, private and community colleges dropped 4.5% from Fall '19 to Fall '20, nearly double the national average for higher ed.

Source:

https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/higher-education-enrollment-drops-across-iowa-at-a-rate-above-the-national-decline-state-agency/article_2bf752d3-13ee-5ca7-8df8-fa6429b32528.html#tracking-source=article-related-bottom

[sevelev711]

Found it - sorry for the delay.

This is from a February story in the WCF Courier:

"Both the UI and ISU saw a 10% drop in first-year students, while UNI actually reported a 3.4% uptick in freshmen. Still, UNI reported the biggest undergraduate drop of 7.5%, compared with 5.1% at ISU and 4.6% at the UI."

Two paragraphs prior in the story, it states that UNI's overall enrollment decreased 9.3% from Fall '19 to Fall '20.

In the lede, it states that the overall enrollment for Iowa's public, private and community colleges dropped 4.5% from Fall '19 to Fall '20, nearly double the national average for higher ed.

Source:

https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/education/higher-education-enrollment-drops-across-iowa-at-a-rate-above-the-national-decline-state-agency/article_2bf752d3-13ee-5ca7-8df8-fa6429b32528.html#tracking-source=article-related-bottom

Thanks for finding this, that is decent news, especially coupled with the other article that says UNI has really good retention rate.

[DownGoesKansas]

Thanks for finding this, that is decent news, especially coupled with the other article that says UNI has really good retention rate.

I think the issue is getting back to where we were say 10 years ago. The bigger concern IMO

[UNIpanther99]

I think the issue is getting back to where we were say 10 years ago. The bigger concern IMO

Agreed. What's the dorm usage like these days? Are the towers even open?

[sevelev711]

I think the issue is getting back to where we were say 10 years ago. The bigger concern IMO

One step at a time. Gotta get back to where we were 4 years ago before we can get back to where we were 10 years ago.

...I mean you don't have to I suppose, but you know what I mean.

[ronfitch]

Thanks for finding this, that is decent news, especially coupled with the other article that says UNI has really good retention rate.

There is a bunch of information on the Institutional Research site. The Facts Page (https://ir.uni.edu/uni-facts) has a downloadable .pdfs with annual Fact Books, Data Sets and old Registrar Reports. The news stories were a mix of percentages and the one note about overall enrollment being down 25xx since 2017 (offering percentages is fine, if there is a side graph showing numbers, but it bugs me when a writer leaves out context ... 25xx since 2017 from ??? helps). The Fact Book covers all that and a ton more.

The current and past Strategic Plans on the IR site, too. On the Essential Data page, there is one item which is not behind a CatID login - the NSSE survey results. Some interesting things there - UNI students still work a lot during the school year (at least those who responded to the survey), UNI students are pretty happy with their choice of school.

[UNIAlum95]

Agreed. What's the dorm usage like these days? Are the towers even open?

Dancer was closed for remodeling but I have not heard if it has reopened or not. Occupancy has to be down significantly though.

[orangetennis]

Covid is obviously a major cause of this but also I think that the current generation of students is much more concerned with student loan debt and repayment than some previous generations.