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59 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, October 9, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 6, 2004 SOU enrollment drops 8.6 percent By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Southern Oregon University has released preliminary fall enrollment figures that show the number of students on campus has slipped 8.6 percent compared with last fall’s final enrollment numbers. The university refused to release preliminary numbers Monday, although officials issued a press release that said enrollment, while still unfolding, was less than initially projected. The state’s largest universities released preliminary numbers last week showing rapid growth. Classes started Sept. 27. Officials announced that as of Tuesday morning a total of 5,032 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled. Fall 2003 enrollment, calculated four weeks after classes started, was 5,506. "We projected a little slippage, about 1 percent, 50 or 55 students," said Ron Bolstad, the university’s vice president for administration and finance. "This is a little softer than we expected." Advertisement President Elisabeth Zinser previously said every 1 percent in the rise or fall of enrollment translates to a $200,000 swing in SOU’s budget. After Zinser predicted Sept. 23 that enrollment would decline, the Mail Tribune and Ashland Daily Tidings submitted a public records request to obtain preliminary numbers. The university usually doesn’t release preliminary figures, waiting until official fourth-week totals are released by the state in November. The fourth week is the last chance for students to register or drop classes. Bolstad said Tuesday that the university is still registering students and enrollment is changing daily. However, he doesn’t expect to see a sharp change in student numbers. "We are just starting to go over the numbers to see where that slippage is," he said. Officials will determine whether enrolled students left school or whether new students set to attend never arrived. Double-digit tuition increases the university has posted in each of the last two years likely were a factor in the enrollment decreases, Bolstad said. But similar increases apparently didn’t affect Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. SOU was initially set for tuition increases of up to 28 percent, depending on the number of credits earned. Midsummer, the state’s board of higher education capped tuition increases for undergraduates statewide at 15 percent higher than was charged during spring of 2004. The cap also flattened cost differences for full-time students taking between 12 and 16 credits, enabling students to take additional classes without spending much more, Bolstad said. Officials hope that "tuition plateau" will encourage students to add classes, thus boosting the university’s full-time equivalency, another enrollment measure. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities