Most public universities and community colleges in southwest Oregon saw overall enrollment numbers increase this fall, but numbers still have not returned ot pre-COVID levels, according to enrollment data from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission.
Headcount enrollment, which includes both full- and part-time students, at the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls increased for the fourth year in a row and is now greater than it was in 2019.
Greg Stringer, associate vice provost for strategic enrollment management at Oregon Tech, said one part of their success is meeting with potential students in person.
"Then we focus also on that first year coaching," he said. "Making sure that once you get them to school here, are we providing the tutoring, the support, the academic support in a fashion that is going to help the students succeed?"
Oregon Tech also recently created a new direct admission process for high school students taking classes at the university.
With that foundation solid, Stringer said, they can afford to look ahead.
"We have plans for very long-term exciting things here, as we discuss things such as a potential for a medical school at Oregon Tech, or we talk about expanding our engineering program," he said. "We want to be sound and stable in our growth, but we also want to be as aggressive as we can be."
The only institutions in the region where enrollment declined were Southwestern Oregon and Umpqua Community Colleges, which saw declines of about 8% and 9%, respectively.
At Southern Oregon University in Ashland, headcount enrollment went up by about 1.5% after a decrease last year but still below what it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yet, SOU President Rick Bailey said reaching that number might not be the goal.
"What I don't want to do is set an arbitrary number and say that has to be the target," he said. "What I would rather do is say, what do we need in order to serve this region? And then let's just do that the absolute best we can."
SOU has faced a dire financial situation in recent years and recently approved a plan to cut $10 million over the next four years.
"The fact that we are moving in the direction we're moving is really heartening," Bailey said. "Now, it's incumbent upon us — students, faculty and staff — to build on these wins, to continue to put some points on the board and move in the direction that we all know we are capable of as an institution."
Meanwhile, enrollment at Klamath Community College has surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
Enrollment at Rogue Community College also increased for the fifth year in a row, by about 7%.
Dave Koehler, vice president of student learning and success at RCC, said much of their growth is concentrated in career and technical education, or CTE.
On the one hand, he said, that's good news.
But, "at the same time, it's concerning for us because we're wanting to make sure that we're growing strategically," he said. "Our CTE programs are the highest cost programs for us to deliver."
Last year, voters rejected a $60 million bond that would have increased RCC's capacity for CTE programs.
"Our science labs are full. We can't offer any more because we just don't have the capacity," Koehler said. "Our automotive and diesel, we're at capacity."
He said the college is considering implementing a competitive entry process for some programs, along with other options.
JPR is licensed to Southern Oregon University, but our newsroom operates independently. Guided by our journalistic standards and ethics, we cover the university like any other organization in the region. No university official reviewed or edited this story before it was published.
