For Immediate Release 5 October, 2000

Fall 2000 Enrollment at State Universities up from 1999
Board of Regents Releases Enrollment Figures

RAPID CITY—More students are enrolled at the six state universities in Fall 2000 than attended one year ago. At its regular business meeting on the campus of South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSM&T), the South Dakota Board of Regents received the semester enrollment figures for the public higher education system.

"One way to look at enrollment is by headcount, that is every person who takes a course for credit is counted. System-wide the public universities are serving 944 more students this fall than one year ago," said Regents President Harvey C. Jewett, IV, Aberdeen. "Another way to look at enrollment is to calculate the number of full-time equivalent students based on total credit hours generated by all of them. The system is up 130 FTEs, which means that the students we have enrolled are taking more courses too."

The figures released by the Regents reflect total enrollment by university. "We pull together enrollment data from many different sources to generate total enrollment figures," said Regents Executive Director Robert T. Tad Perry. "South Dakotans need to keep in mind that these are six universities with diverse missions. In addition to undergraduate preparation, the Regents maintain a medical school and law school, offer outreach functions for continuing education throughout the state, support satellite sites in Sioux Falls, Pierre, and Ellsworth Air Force Base, and provide opportunities for high school students who want to take university courses. This fall the Regents launched the electronic university consortium, which coordinates courses offered through distance technology. Citizens of this state have more educational opportunities now than ever before."

Emphasizing the importance of education to the new technology-driven economy, Perry said that he was delighted with the enrollment increases. "Increased headcount means that more people are taking advantage of educational offerings. Both the University of South Dakota and Black Hills State University are showing significant enrollment increases. For BHSU this is the third straight year of growth. USD and South Dakota State University are reversing enrollment trends from the past several years. School of Mines and Technology is up this year too. Because of its engineering program, its enrollment remains fairly constant from year to year," said Perry.

Contrasting the difference between headcount and FTE enrollments, Perry noted, "Various types of students affect enrollment calculations differently. Northern State University, for example, is up nearly five percent in headcount. This is on top of the ten percent increase that occurred last fall. It has been exerting efforts to attract non-traditional students in its service area, as part of its regional mission. Non-traditional students typically take fewer courses than full-time college students in the traditional age group of 18 to 23. Since they are part-time they generate fewer credit hours, so the FTE calculation may actually decrease."

On the other hand, because of the popularity of its information systems degrees, Dakota State University has attracted more traditional college-age students who enroll full-time, explained Perry. Since Dakota State has more full-time students, generating more credit hours, its FTE calculation has increased. Its headcount is down because it enrolled fewer part-time students doing follow-up course work for summer teacher technology academies, which DSU had operated for several summers, Perry noted. In summer 2000 DSU offered a distance technology academy, which was attended by far fewer elementary and secondary education personnel than the academies aimed at classroom teachers.

"We have entered an era where life-long learning is becoming the norm," said Jewett. "Objectives vary among students. The public university system is here to assist people to meet those objectives, whether they are high school students in Aberdeen or classroom teachers in Bowdle. As they move through our system they affect our enrollment numbers differently. The important thing is that South Dakotans are seeking education."

For more information, contact: Dr. Robert T. Tad Perry, Executive Director, South Dakota Board of Regents, (605) 773-3455