The University of Hawaii at Hilo wants to add 300 more students over the next five years, part of its new plan to improve retention and reverse declining enrollment.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo wants to add 300 more students over the next five years, part of its new plan to improve retention and reverse declining enrollment.
The enrollment management plan, presented last month to the UH Board of Regents, sets a 3,830-student target by the 2020-21 school year, to be reached incrementally through slight increases each year.
As of last week, 3,518 students were enrolled at UH-Hilo, down from 3,666 this past fall. Enrollment has progressively dropped every year since 2012, when it peaked at 4,157 students after eight years of continual growth.
The board requested similar plans from other UH campuses. Most every school in the UH system has seen student populations decline in recent years.
“I’d like a larger goal, but this is one I think we can achieve,” UH-Hilo Chancellor Don Straney told the Tribune-Herald last week. “ … (Having) public accountability makes it obvious whether we succeed or not.”
Administrators have attributed its enrollment decline partly to the improving economy, which they said can propel prospective students to enter the workforce instead of pursue education.
But Straney said the campus could also do a better job attracting first-time freshman — particularly kamaaina — and better retain current students.
In order to do that, UH-Hilo is ramping up visits to local high schools, Straney said. It’s also playing a new commercial on rotation on Hawaii television stations, he said, and has revamped its recruitment materials to “sharpen its message” and give prospective students a more accurate portrayal of the campus.
About 65 percent of UH-Hilo freshman returned for their sophomore year last year, which Straney said he’d like to eventually bump to 80 percent.
“Managing enrollment means actively changing,” he said. “ … I really think everyone who comes in the door should know (they’re) here because we know they can make it.”
The enrollment plan also calls to strengthen transfer pipelines with UH community colleges and to increase enrollment among West Hawaii students through online and in-person courses offered at Hawaii Community College’s Palamanui campus.
UH-Hilo relies on generating sufficient tuition revenue to fund many of its yearly expenditures, Straney said, and this fall, tuition will increase by just $72 — one of the smallest hikes in recent years.
Despite the ongoing enrollment problem, however, administrators say other efforts to improve student success are beginning to pay off.
Last year, UH-Hilo reported its highest four-year graduation rate in recent years: 18.7 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen who enrolled in fall 2012 had graduated by spring 2016, up from 13.6 percent in 2015 and 8.2 percent among fall 2007 freshmen.
Administrators attributed that improvement to bolstering advising services for freshmen and adding a new scheduling initiative for freshmen, among other things.
Hawaii Community College also has struggled with declining enrollment.
This fall, it reported 2,957 students, down 4.2 percent from 2015.
Information presented to the board last month suggests UH community colleges as a whole need to better target working adults, eliminate an enrollment gap among Pacific Island students, and work to meet the state Department of Education’s goal to increase the statewide college-going rate.
HCC Chancellor Rachel Solemsaas previously said the community college added a new recruitment outreach specialist position this school year to help recruit, improve retention and draw students from underserved populations.
A total of 53,418 students were enrolled between UH’s 10 campuses this past fall.
UH has a goal of 63,636 students systemwide by the 2020-21 school year.
Email Kirsten Johnson at kjohnson@hawaiitribune-herald.com.