Number of incoming first-years to stagnate

Kari Plog - plogkr@plu.edu

mast news reporter

In terms of new student enrollment for fall 2008, PLU’s admissions staff is pleased with the momentum thus far.

“We are excited about the applicant level and the high school student interest in PLU,” said Vice President of Admissions Karl Stumo.

Last year, the incoming first-year class here at PLU was the largest enrolled class in the history of the university. Stumo indicated that this class size seems to be remaining constant.

“You never know for sure until after May 1, but enrollment for fall 2008 looks strong,” Stumo said. “[We] are planning for a class of similar size for this fall.”

Last fall, 715 enrolled first-years attended PLU. The waiting list during that previous summer was very limited, due to the vast size of the incoming class. This tendency is predicted to repeat itself if a class of this size remains constant, Stumo said.

“It is too early to tell,” Stumo said. “[It is difficult] to predict with confidence a very large class.”
One clarification, emphasized by Stumo, was to assure the student body that balance is the goal here on campus.

“[We] need to be sensitive to the overall balance of students needed on campus,” Stumo said. “The Office of Admissions works closely with Residential Life and Student Life, as well as the Provost, to make sure we enroll the appropriate number of students.”

PLU is built for 3600-3700 students, according to the university ’s mission statement. The balanced student body that Admissions and other departments work closely to maintain depends on varying factors. The goal is to have an estimated 1000 new students enrolled next fall, Stumo said. This goal is a combination of both incoming first-years and transfer students.

“The transfer recruitment market is very competitive right now,” Stumo said.

As far as housing is concerned, the anticipated number of incoming students appears to have no effects out of the ordinary for Residential Life.

“At this point, the number of housing requests we have processed has not exceeded our normal range,” said director of Residential Life Tom Huelsbeck. “While we are currently a bit ahead in both new student and continuing student requests compared to last year, we are in a similar position when it comes to contingency planning.”

Should any need to shape the housing arrangements arise, Residential Life has a plan for how they would handle it.

“Our primary tool for managing the fluctuations in our housing demand is controlling the number of double rooms we offer as singles (called single/doubles),” Huelsbeck said. “This is a very popular living option, especially for our upper division residents, so we approach this very carefully.”

Through a collaborative effort with Admissions and the Provost, Residential Life is also working proactively as far as planning for the incoming students.

“In Residential Life and across PLU, we work to think ahead and be proactive,” Huelsbeck said. “Our efforts right now are focused on managing the housing processes and capacity, forecasting likely occupancy, and establishing contingency plans should requests exceed our projections. It is through proactive efforts such as these that we minimize any possible concerns and ensure that all students will have the residential experience they are seeking when they come to PLU and we expect to provide.”

The National Candidate Reply date is May 1. This is when the accurate number of students to be enrolled in the university will have submitted their enrollment deposit of $200, officially putting them on the list of incoming students this fall.