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Bradley Freshman Enrollment

wow-
SIU's total enrollment dropped by HALF since the 90's
and by almost 1500 (12%) just in the past year!!

And their FRESHMAN enrollment - something Bradley's been GOOD at recruiting-
is down by 20% to only 1133 this year!!!!!

Remember- Bradley's freshman enrollment was 1,265 last year and 1,120 this year - so SIU's new freshman enrollment is the same as Bradley's
They simply won't survive at those numbers.....they have to do something

then they brag - "Some 71.08 percent of last year’s incoming class remains enrolled, the highest retention rate in recent years"
What?? 30% of your incoming students from last year have left and that's great? Whoa....how bad was that number last year - 50%?
You'd better find out why so many students who enroll there cut & run after just one year!
 
SIU has been beset by some bad leadership until very recently. Rivalry aside I hope they turn it around.
 
tornado said:
wow-
SIU's total enrollment dropped by HALF since the 90's
and by almost 1500 (12%) just in the past year!!

And their FRESHMAN enrollment - something Bradley's been GOOD at recruiting-
is down by 20% to only 1133 this year!!!!!

Remember- Bradley's freshman enrollment was 1,265 last year and 1,120 this year - so SIU's new freshman enrollment is the same as Bradley's
They simply won't survive at those numbers.....they have to do something

then they brag - "Some 71.08 percent of last year??™s incoming class remains enrolled, the highest retention rate in recent years"
What?? 30% of your incoming students from last year have left and that's great? Whoa....how bad was that number last year - 50%?
You'd better find out why so many students who enroll there cut & run after just one year!
Click to expand...

There had been reports that SIU's freshman class was just under 1000, so they have that going for them.
 
even tho each state school does keep raising tuition, they also get thousands of dollars of taxpayer subsidies for EACH STUDENT.

We always hear claims that they are self sufficient and that they don't rely on public subsidies but recent FACTS prove that's a lie.

ISU receives $3,551 in "state funding per full-time student"*, but there are other state schools receive up to almost double that...and SIU gets almost HALF their operating budget from state subsidies. *
But as the state schools have to raise their tuition, their enrollment will drop and the quality comes into question if people are no longer going there...

Bradley doesn't rely on a cent of taxpayer money - yet continues to be rated again and again as one of the best Universities in the nation as well as one of the best values in the nation for an education!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...-ranks-dominican-univer-2018-09-11-story.html
https://www.bradley.edu/offices/com...e.dot?id=3ef7aab2-eb0b-454b-9412-34063026c631
https://www.bradley.edu/inthespotlight/story/?id=f2e949c4-7f94-4b4d-a70a-e14d187e7516
 
Here's a BRAND NEW interview with BU President Gary Roberts.... talking mostly about enrollment... there's also more of what Dr. Roberts said in a separate recent interview

a couple facts...

- "This year we had a record 11,205 freshmen applications. That's the most in Bradley's history."
However, after a couple years of outstanding incoming freshman and even record freshman enrollment, numbers were down slightly this year, as Bradley has not weakened admission standards just to keep the numbers up.

- "We have 1090 new freshmen who hail from 31 states, 1 US territory - US Virgin Islands, 16 foreign countries and 5 of 7 continents."
The freshman enrollment of 1090 is 30 fewer than what Bradley had targeted for

- the number of high school graduates seeking placement in college is going down and will continue thru 2026. Class sizes in Illinois and elsewhere who will become high school graduates are smaller and are due to smaller family sizes that follow economic recession that started 1-2 decades ago..
(births per 1,000 women in the US dropped from 70 in 2007 to just 60 by 2016)

- costs of college educating a student is skyrocketing

- Bradley is one of the few schools that is staying ahead of the game and not seeing declining enrollment and declining numbers of new applications...

- Dr. Roberts had said earlier that total enrollment was down from what was hoped for but that he believed it was due to the unfortunate negative press Bradley got following the tragic off campus shooting of a Chicago student last spring.

- Bradley Hilltopics is undergoing a name change - it will now be called "Bradley Magazine"
https://www.centralillinoisproud.co...ersity-update-with-dr-gary-roberts/1512255197
 
I don't understand how Pres. Roberts could be so upbeat about the current enrollment numbers while interviewed on local TV, then a few weeks later send out a somewhat dire letter to the Bradley faculty and community that numbers are much worse than anticipated. Which is it? Is Bradley on firm financial footing or has the tsunami of declining enrollment already hit before Bradley was prepared to handle it. From my understanding of this recent letter not only was current year freshman enrollment down more than anticipated, but transfer enrollments and student retention were both way down... record levels down.

Is Bradley in trouble? What will Roberts cut? (he indicated that cuts must be made now). How does this effect Bradley athletics, specifically the men's basketball budget moving forward? How does this effect Roberts' standing with the Bradley Board and wealthy alums? Color me "WORRIED"!
 
Seems kind of alarmist but that's not a bad strategy to raise money. I think the shooting plus the fact we have a huge hole in the ground for another year where the new engineering/business complex will be built might contribute. If it happens again next year I'd be concerned because that might indicate it's systemic.

I will say if Bradley ever wanted to boost enrollment one solution is non scholarship FCS football like they have at Drake and Valpo. Yeah it's not big time football but if the students pay their way it's not the huge money pit like you see at scholarship midmajors and hey, it's 100 more students.
 
if it was that bad PhiAlpha, then Bradley would be forced into raising tuition to get more revenue immediately or lowering admission standards to get the enrollment up immediately...
But - neither is a current option and that's a good thing - because if you do either, then the immediate benefit of either more tuition or more students will evaporate as time goes on and people look for lower cost options or look for schools like ISU with lower academic standards.

The since-fired leadership at SIU made those exact terrible mistakes...they jacked tuition and saw an immediate plummetting of enrollment
https://thesouthern.com/news/local/...cle_4ee40269-8db4-5255-b561-2163d9922982.html
..they've also lowered their admission standards to about juco levels - https://www.collegesimply.com/guides/low-act-score/illinois/
 
Mikovio said:
SIU fell even harder in terms of total enrollment ….
Click to expand...

an interesting suggestion from activists on how to solve SIU's enrollment decline...

And they are serious about this...
they demand SIU open the gates for anyone and everyone and TUITION IS FREE!! I am not joking - they just expect someone in Springfield to write a check to cover the tuition of 12,000 to possibly 20,000 (or more) kids if the enrollment goes up...
https://thesouthern.com/news/local/...b77c18a.html#tracking-source=home-top-story-1

…"The group, made up of members of two local Democratic Socialist organizations...
a plan to save SIUC: Free tuition for all.....We know this idea is popular with students...

...rising tuition likely among primary causes of enrollment decline
...universities have an excess of management staff whose six-figure salaries drain their budgets"

...but here's the most glaring part that these numbskulls seem to miss....
"A tuition-free SIUC would require an immediate increase of about $100 million in state contributions"

Good luck trying to get the state to overnite you $100 mil …. :roll:



addendum...hey, I want to join this movement but I will add one extra small demand...
I want this idea of FREE ENROLLMENT & FREE TUITION to extend to all colleges & grad schools and I want it to be retroactive back to 1967...
I will expect my refund check - with interest - in the mail. By my best estimate - I figure my wife & I each spent eight years in Illinois colleges plus all my kids spent another 24 years or so in colleges - so that comes, with the interest added, to about $1.6 million, but I won't quarrel if they just cut me a check for one-and-a-half MIL.
 
Activists Demand?

Activists Demand?

Wow, I have heard of some ridiculous ideas, but to demand free tuition? To anyone who wants to enroll? Taxpayers would revolt. This kind of demand is what is causing the divide in this country.

I suppose it is every curriculum too? Even the curriculums that do not pay to undertake a student loan for because there are no jobs available or the jobs available are low paying?
 
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