11-18-16 Admissions and Enrollment Meeting Notes
In attendance: William Mullen, Stacy Freiheit, Catherine Bishop, Rick Ellis, Jill Dawe, Tracy How
Invited but not able to attend: Rebekah Dupont, Audrey Lensmire, Robert Groven, Ann Impullitti,Michael Wentzel, AaaronGriess,Amy Gort,Michael Wentzel, Marc McIntosh
Reports and data published online at:
Brief Summary of Withdrawn Student Focus Groups and Interviews
One focus group of six students and four individual student interviews were completed in early November and the initial results were shared with the committee members. A full written report will be also shared with the committee once completed. Again, the students interviewed were first-time, first-year who at Augsburg in fall 2015, but did not return fall 2016. It is important to note that the interviews were very helpful in understanding the “Why is that…” type of question. Briefly put, the two main reasons for students not retaining from one year to the next were financial issues that the students had during the year, and the lack of a particular major that was not offered at Augsburg. While we could have just as easily captured this on a survey, the deeper understanding of the issues were very informative.
On a positive note,students were generally satisfied with her experience at Augsburg. They all felt that the small classes, and personal attention was very valuable. In fact, four of the nine students interviewed were actively working on returning to attend Augsburg sometime in the future. Only one student felt that the experience was “not worth it”, while several of the others mentioned that if we had had the major they wanted, or if they could have afforded it, they would still be here. Many of the students in the interviews were either not active in community organizations, or did not fully utilize the resources offered at Augsburg (one student left due to mental health issues). One student participated on the football team, but lost his passion for the game during the season, and no longer wanted to play. Other students reported that off-campus work made it difficult for them to participate in clubs and activities, and several regretted doing so.
Several of the students transferred to the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities due to cost. Some students were reluctant to take out debt at the levels needed to stay enrolled at Augsburg, and one student mentioned a reluctance, due to cultural reasons, of her family for her to acquire interest-bearing debt. These students mentioned that attending the University of Minnesota enabled them to attend for much less out-of-pocket costs, and little or no debt. Interestingly enough, these same students selected Augsburg over other private colleges due to our financial aid packages, which were better than the others. Additionally, other students either simply could not come up with funds to cover the balances, or in case, was misadvised on making monthly payments, and was not allowed to register for spring semester, due to a financial hold. Finally, nursing, music engineering, Arabic, and journalism were majors that students who dropped out because these majors were not offered at Augsburg.
International Student Recruitment Presentation
After some discussion about the focus groups, and the need to continue gathering information about why students leave, Tracy How, the Director of International Student Recruitment, presented on recruiting and enrolling international students at Augsburg. She mentioned that our goal is to grow international student enrollment from 15-20 new students per year (both transfer and freshmen), to 40-50 between now and fall 2019. She mentioned that while this is very aggressive, the number of international students studying in the United States has grown considerably over the past ten years, and has increased to over one million this past year. Growth from students from India and China has been strongest, accounting for almost 50% of the students in the U.S now (it is important to note that these numbers include graduate and undergraduate students). She also mentioned that most international students study at large research institutions, typically on the east or west coasts, with engineering, math, and computer science being the most popular majors.
Tracy then discussed the overall strategy for recruiting international students. Even though we do not have the resources to recruit on a global scale, like at the University of Minnesota, we can utilize our relationships and networks to meet goals. The strategy, of course, involves travel, and we have completed trips to India, China, Vietnam, and several other countries. We are also coordinating domestic and international recruiting to find and recruit international high school and community-college students studying in Minnesota, and other parts of the U.S. We are also engaging CGEE staff, especially those in Mexico, to help recruit, and we are using the Study Minnesota, and EducationUSA networks for arranging international student recruitment events. Finally, through the use of targeted, and carefully vetted agents, and names purchase, we are also directly marketing to students in specific countries that fit the profile of students that fit Augsburg.
Tracy continued the discussion by highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of Augsburg’s position with international students. We are not highly ranked in the U.S. News and World Report top lists of colleges and universities (we are ranked 30th in the Regional Universities of the Midwest) which makes recruiting top students in Asia (especially China) difficult. International students also generally do not understand the value of a liberal arts education, and instead opt for more focused majors such as engineering offered at larger institutions. Further, we do not have a wealth of outcomes information and stores about the successes of our international alumni. But our location in an urban environment is beneficial. We are also a safe, and supportive community with small classes, and attentive faculty, which is appealing to many international students. The change of name to Augsburg University, along with the new Hagfors Building, will help attract international students interested in STEM fields.
Tracy concluded by stating that if we can coordinate all of the international opportunities available through faculty travel, our international alumni network, and promote Augsburg though the use of successful student stories and data, we will see steady growth in international students. We also have the staff to support a much larger international student population at Augsburg, and a larger international student presence will improve the student learning environment.