ENROLLMENT DECLINES AT EIGHT STATE COLLEGES

Eight of Missouri's four-year colleges and universities saw a combined enrollment drop of 4,120 students this fall semester compared with last year.

Four others -- the University of Missouri campuses at St. Louis and Rolla, Missouri Western State College at St. Joseph and Northeast Missouri State University at Kirksville -- experienced increases. No figures were available Friday from Harris-Stowe State College in St. Louis. Last fall, the school had a total enrollment of about 2,000 students.

The biggest enrollment drop occurred at the University of Missouri-Columbia, which has a total headcount this fall of 22,168, a decline of 1,178 over the 1992 fall semester.

Southeast Missouri State University also saw its enrollment drop, along with the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Southwest Missouri State, Lincoln, Missouri Southern, Central Missouri State and Northwest Missouri State University.

Southeast saw its total enrollment of undergraduate and graduate students drop by 360, from 8,444 in the 1992 fall semester to 8,084 this fall, university officials said Friday.

Other schools and their enrollments are: University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), 9,790, compared to 10,489 in the fall of 1992; Northwest, 5,814, compared to 5,865; Southwest, 19,140, compared to 19,951 last year; Central Missouri State, 11,845, compared to 12,165; Missouri Southern, 5,666, compared to 5,889 in 1992; and Lincoln, 3,623, compared to 4,101.

Officials at Southeast and other schools with declining enrollment cite tougher admission standards, a smaller pool of high school graduates, and the economy as factors.

At Southeast, for example, about 250 students were denied admission this year because they did not meet stricter academic standards. Others are simply not even applying, knowing they don't meet the standards, said Fred Snider, assistant vice president in charge of enrollment.

University President Kala Stroup at the start of the semester described the decline as an "enrollment blip," but said that the incoming students were better prepared academically to succeed in college.

Stroup and other Southeast officials said the decline locally was mirrored at most of Missouri's other public, four-year colleges and universities.

Barb Smith, director of university communications at UMKC, said part of the enrollment drop there was planned. "We reduced the size of our school of business and we have reduced the size of our school of education," she said.

"We have gone through a period of planned decreases. Part of it reflects the marketplace," she said. "Our admission standards have gone up and our tuition has also gone up," she said.

Lincoln University officials said this summer's flooding along the Missouri River was one factor in the enrollment drop at the Jefferson City school.

At the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL), enrollment was up by 485 students to 15,411. At Northeast, enrollment climbed from 5,941 last fall to 6,153 this fall. Both Missouri Western and the University of Missouri-Rolla experienced minimal increases, 35 and 19, respectively.

Missouri Western's enrollment stands at 5,118 this fall compared to 5,083 last year. Enrollment at Rolla stands at 5,201, up from 5,182 last year.

The increase at UMSL partially reflects a jump in enrollment of African-American students. "We have 1,440 African Americans," said Bob Samples, university spokesman. Last fall, the school had 1,195 black students.