NEWS

FGCU slices enrollment projections

DAVE BREITENSTEIN
DBREITENSTEIN@NEWS-PRESS.COM
Nick Rota, a Florida Gulf Coast University student studying accounting works in Mareib Hall on Tuesday 9/16/2014.  Marieb Hall's opening was delayed one semester because state funding to furnish the facility was cut from the budget, but it opened in January 2012.

FGCU is cutting back its enrollment growth plan, opting for quality over quantity in building its student body of the future.

For much of the 2000s, FGCU was among fastest-growing universities in the nation. Annual enrollment was climbing by double-digit percentages, and new academic buildings and residence halls opened their doors each fall to accommodate the surge of students.

Earning an acceptance letter got tougher Tuesday.

The Board of Trustees lowered the university's targeted growth rate from 5 percent to 2.25 percent annually. Although it seems like a small difference, by 2019 the percentage adjustment will translate into 2,298 fewer students than previously projected.

It boils down to construction funding. FGCU didn't receive much the past few years, didn't receive much this year and doesn't expect to receive much in the next few years.

"We kept hoping, maybe hoping longer than we should have, that it would come, and it hasn't," said Steve Magiera, vice president for administrative services. "And it doesn't look like it's going to."

There are 14,488 students on campus this fall, including 2,782 first-year students. That's just 0.8 percent more freshmen despite a record-setting 29.4 percent increase in applications.

Ron Toll, FGCU's provost and vice president for academic affairs, said next year's incoming freshman class will drop by 150 students despite the projected 2.25 percent enrollment growth. How is that possible? FGCU plans to keep this year's freshmen and sophomores on campus. It had been losing one in four students after their freshman year, but a concerted effort to boost retention rates means more students will be sticking around for the full four years. About 77.7 percent of last year's freshmen returned, topping the 76.4 percent rate from a year ago.

FGCU hasn't opened a new academic building since January 2012. Marieb Hall was scheduled to open in August 2011, but the state did not provide funding for furniture and equipment, so FGCU shuttered the facility until it could find money to outfit the building. No academic buildings or residence halls will be built over the next few years.

Reining in growth at the university, however, will have an impact off campus as well. Trustee chairwoman Robbie Roepstorff said residential and business developments in south Lee County are contingent of FGCU's continued emergence as an economic catalyst. Immediately south of campus, Miromar Development is planning to construct two- and four-bedroom apartments for 1,400 students, an off-campus housing development that has the university's blessing.

"We've got a lot of development going around us, and if we stop bringing students in, we're going to have a bunch of people mad at us," Roepstorff said.

The lack of construction funds has led to larger class sizes. In fall 2003, the average undergraduate class size was 24 students; it was 35 students in 2013, matching the statewide average. Toll doesn't expect FGCU's average to creep above 37 students.

Offering more online courses and classes Fridays and Saturdays has allowed the university to continue building enrollment without building new facilities.Sophomore Taylor Graham, 19, said she's noticed larger class sizes in her medical-related courses. Although the university's reputation and notoriety rose because of the school's rapid growth, Graham isn't sure getting bigger at this point means getting better.

"If we have too many people, there won't be enough classroom space," said Graham, of Tampa. "You could build more, but that would destroy the environment this school is known for."

The university will go for better rather than bigger. This year's freshmen had an average ACT score of 23.1 and SAT of 1569, compared with 21.9 and 1529 a year ago, respectively.

"We can get a better prepared student when they come in the door," Magiera said.

That will translate into higher retention rates, and thus higher graduation rates, he said. Because Florida uses both numbers in calculating performance-based funding, FGCU stands to gain financially by admitting brighter students, not simply more students.

Access has been a staple of FGCU since day one, and it's a point of pride for President Wilson Bradshaw. As the university has expanded its reach, a smaller percentage of students are local. In fact, 50.4 percent of students last fall were from outside Southwest Florida.

More competition for limited seats allows admissions officers to be more selective, and trustee Russell Priddy said area parents and students should be aware of that. He offered simple advice for gaining admission to FGCU.

"Work a little harder in high school and it won't be an issue," Priddy said.

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