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Boise State sets new Idaho university enrollment record
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Boise State has become the first Idaho university to top the 17,000 enrollment mark. On the tenth day of the semester (the add/drop deadline), BSU?s official count was 17,161 — about 700 more students than last fall semester.
According to Mark Wheeler, dean of Enrollment Services, based on the way colleges are funded in Idaho, a campus must grow at a two percent rate each year or risk losing valuable funds. However, there must be classroom space to accommodate continued growth.
?I?m not saying the university should grow unchecked,? said Wheeler. ?We have to be very careful distinguishing between the numbers and the quality of education we can offer.?
According to a recent study, though BSU has the largest student population in Idaho, there is a disparity in funding that finds Boise State at a loss compared to other state universities.
?We can accommodate this growth in the short term. But these numbers illustrate the need for a continued financial support of higher education,? said Boise State President Charles Ruch.
Ruch pointed to Boise State?s growing reputation as a metropolitan university, the convenience of a distributed campus that offers courses at a variety of times in a variety of locations and improvement in the financial aid office as reasons for the increase in student population.
The administration is hoping the expansion of Boise State?s West campus will alleviate some of the congestion due to growth in Canyon County enrollment. According to Mark Wheeler, the Boise State main campus has seen four percent growth, whereas the Canyon County campus has seen over 30 percent.
The large growth of off-campus distributed educational services (including online courses). Wheeler says that off campus services, such as classes offered at Mountain Home and Gowen Field, as well as online courses, are vital to Boise State?s necessary expansion.
?Had we not adopted that philosophy, I think we?d be in a really tough situation right now,? he said.
A consequence of unchecked growth, he said, might lead to an enrollment cap, effectively freezing any new funds from the legislature.
The growth in off-campus offerings also illustrates the need for a Boise State West campus.
?We are anxious to begin construction on the building so we can meet the needs of students in that part of the valley,? said Ruch.
Full time students make up more than 12,000 of the total number of students, and the number of credits they are carrying is greater than previous years. Graduate student enrollment is also up 7 percent, and the number of students of Hispanic decent has risen by 13 percent.
Sean C. Hayes