Fall 2013 IHL enrollment...

[Maroon Eagle]

University	Fall 2012	Fall 2013*	Number change	% change
Alcorn State University	3,950	3,927	-23	-0.6%
Delta State University	4,763	4,785	22	0.5%
Jackson State University	8,819	9,134	315	3.6%
Mississippi State University	20,365	20,161	-204	-1.0%
Mississippi University for Women	2,650	2,635	-15	-0.6%
Mississippi Valley State University	2,479	2,279	-200	-8.1%
University of Mississippi	18,794	19,426	632	3.4%
University of Mississippi Medical Center	2,734	2,860	126	4.6%
University of Southern Mississippi	16,468	15,325	-1,143	-6.9%
System Total	81,022	80,532	-490	-0.6%

<thead>
</thead><tbody>
</tbody>

* Preliminary 2013 figures
Source: State Institutions of Higher Learning

Clarion-Ledger Article here.

 

[Heawww]

We really need to merge with MUW.

 

[RocketDawg]

There probably should be some more mergers too for economic reasons. Mississippi isn't large enough for 9 "universities". 3 or 4 would be plenty, I think.

If you meant to merge with the W only to increase our size, I don't agree. It's quality, not quantity. But for economics, mergers need to take place.

 

[os62]

FLAGSHIP****

 

[Heawww]

I admit I don't know specifics, I just want to make MSU bigger. Don't they have a good nursing school? Surely that would benefit us. They could even keep it in Columbus. We need to make Columbus more MSU-local anyway.

Alcorn, JSU and Valley are all separated by big distances. Don't see how you merge any of them, but I admittedly don't know how it works.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

That drop in USM enrollment is no joke.

I don't know the enrollment trend from the last several years, but if I was teaching or working there I'd be polishing up my vita real quick like. That kind of drop leads to shuttering programs/dorms, etc., and firing tenured faculty is around the corner. That place hasn't had stability at the top in close to a decade now.

 

[Faustdog]

Am I mistaken in thinking that USM had higher enrollment than both State and Ole Miss until about ten years ago?

 

[Maroon Eagle]

USM's enrollment had reached a height of around 17,000 if I recall correctly. They did initially report a figure that was higher than State's some five years ago but they had miscounted it. I believe I posted a link to it back then.

USM's done a pretty good job already of being lean and mean as far as faculty and staff are concerned-- at least what some admin people I know have mentioned to me in the past few years. What I suspect the issue is that USM gets a lot of students that have Pell Grants and the qualification standards for getting them have changed-- meaning fewer students being enrolled. I think that's why USM went the route they did in selecting their new president... going for someone with student affairs experience who presumably knows about universities being student centered.

And Bennett's done the right things so far, I think. Quite a few people wanted him to keep Hammond, but a new president doesn't want anything divisive early in his administration so he went with an outsider.

 

[mjh94]

if memory serves me correctly, we MSU has an "agreement" of sorts with MUW and their nursing program and food science program that enables students to use credits from both institutions and they can choose where their degree comes from when they graduate. Someone correct me if I'm mistaken.

I admit I don't know specifics, I just want to make MSU bigger. Don't they have a good nursing school? Surely that would benefit us. They could even keep it in Columbus. We need to make Columbus more MSU-local anyway.

Alcorn, JSU and Valley are all separated by big distances. Don't see how you merge any of them, but I admittedly don't know how it works.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Students can get degrees from both universities.

 

[was21]

should merge State and MUW organizationally....cut administrative overhead.

 

[SkullCandy.sixpack]

Katrina just killed USM. They get 70% of their students from the Coast. No matter what you hear, the coast has not recovered yet.

 

[patdog]

If Katrina killed USM, why did they report record enrollment for the 4th straight year in 2011?

Link

 

[biteyoudawg]

should merge State and MUW organizationally....cut administrative overhead.

This has already been done in some areas a couple of years ago.

 

[coach66]

What did our Freshman ACT average look like?

Nm

 

[FlabLoser]

I thought MUW changed their named to Wesley or something?

 

[biteyoudawg]

Fall semester sees record freshman class, highest ACT average in MSU history

MSU article

 

[WayboDawg]

There probably should be some more mergers too for economic reasons. Mississippi isn't large enough for 9 "universities". 3 or 4 would be plenty, I think.

If you meant to merge with the W only to increase our size, I don't agree. It's quality, not quantity. But for economics, mergers need to take place.

You'll never get the colleges to agree to a merger. It would have to be forced somehow. All those alumni love their respective schools just as much as we love ours. Each college wants to maintain their independence.

 

[biteyoudawg]

You'll never get the colleges to agree to a merger. It would have to be forced somehow. All those alumni love their respective schools just as much as we love ours. Each college wants to maintain their independence.

Throw in the Justice Department and you will never see a merger. They want to keep us in the past.

 

[Heawww]

I'd be fine with USM, MUW, JSU, MVSU, and ASU grads just being MSU sidewalk fans. We need PEOPLE, one way or another.

 

[HardyStreetAlumniClub]

We really need to merge with MUW.

MUW-MSU would be a great merger. It would benefit MSU and the state of MS in a big way. I want MSU to have a nursing school to compete with USM and UM in that field. There would be great improvements done to the Columbus campus and MSU would benefit from the enrollment increase.

The problem is some of these older alumni that attended the "W" can't get their finger out of their **** long enough to realize the benefits. That's literally the only thing holding this merger back right now.

 

[HardyStreetAlumniClub]

Katrina just killed USM. They get 70% of their students from the Coast. No matter what you hear, the coast has not recovered yet.

Katrina did not kill USM. USM has killed USM. The lack of sound leadership and a top heavy administration for the past 10 years has killed that University.

Katrina hit, destroyed the coast and SE LA, and heavily damaged Hattiesburg. The University had help from the local, state and federal government to help them get back on their feet quickly. Also had help from other Universities like MSU and UM. Sure, it effected the enrollment for a year or two but if I'm not mistaken they saw steady growth up until this year. No reason to have a drop like they did.

Lack of Pell Grant funding and bad leadership would be the reasons for this drop. USM has a higher percentage of students on pell grants than Ole Miss and State do anyway.

 

[WayboDawg]

Throw in the Justice Department and you will never see a merger. They want to keep us in the past.

This I don't get. Except for maybe Jackson State, these Historically Black Colleges are usually 4 years of playtime, rather than 4 years of quality education. I have had several black friends tell me this personally.

 

[maroonmania]

I admit I don't know specifics, I just want to make MSU bigger. Don't they have a good nursing school? Surely that would benefit us. They could even keep it in Columbus. We need to make Columbus more MSU-local anyway.

Alcorn, JSU and Valley are all separated by big distances. Don't see how you merge any of them, but I admittedly don't know how it works.

Yep, my daughter is at Auburn right now in nursing school whereas if MSU had a nursing school there is a good chance she would be at MSU.

 

[Alinsky]

os62, just being the first created hardly qualifies a university for the outdated flagship label. That tag, though not used much anymore other than by ill informed *** holes from the Plantation, goes to the leading University in the State. In that case performance matters. Mississippi's great Land Grant University demonstrates superiority by the numbers and not by ********. A top 100 research university State does more scientific research than the "little seven" plus the Med school combined. Her graduates receive the highest starting salaries of any university in the state and have the highest mid-career salaries of anyone in school in the state. Furthermore for like the 19th year out of 20 we have had the highest composite ACT scores of any University in the State. You sir are no closer to a "flagship" than a hog is to salvation!

 

[just1dawg]

MUW tried to change its name to Reneau University, named after notable alumna Sallie Reneau, but the state legislature voted against it. I have quite a few female relatives who went there and taught there so I grew up hearing a bit about it. Mary Wilson Hall on campus is named after one of my great great aunts.

Going to both schools is nothing new. My mom and both of her sisters all started at MUW (they still refer to it as MSCW) and graduated from MSU. More recently I had a friend graduate from the culinary program at MUW and it was a benefit to her to easily transfer her MSU credits.

I'm in favor of merging the two universities because as online education becomes ever more prevalent schools like MUW are going to have a hard time surviving. Or perhaps they'll try something else. I grew up in Athens, AL and we have both the oldest institution of higher learning in the state, Athens State University (founded 1822), which, like the W, was a girls-only school until 1931 when it became co-ed. It's unique today because it's the only 2 year junior/senior university in the state. They have a comprehensive agreement with Calhoun Community College for students to go there for the first two years, then transfer to ASU for their degree. Perhaps an arrangement like that with some of the better community colleges (like ICC) might be a possibility.

 

[os62]

Relax. It was a joke. Hence the *****