Former St. Cloud State president on enrollment issues across region

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes a mix of national and local commentaries online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

During my time as president of St. Cloud State University, a common narrative persisted: that SCSU’s enrollment and financial challenges are unique within Minnesota’s higher education landscape. Time and again, headlines declare that SCSU is the example of how things are going wrong at one university. Enough already.

It’s crucial to set the record straight — the challenges facing SCSU are, in fact, not exclusive to SCSU. Promoting this misconception diverts attention from the critical discussions and actions needed if regional universities (RUs) in Minnesota are to remain relevant and responsive to the changing educational needs of our students and state.

Here are the facts:

This is a nationwide problem. Over the past decade, Oregon RUs have seen a total enrollment decline of more than 18%. In Michigan, 11 out of 12 four-year RUs saw enrollment drops, with Eastern Michigan University losing 31% of its students. Nine of the eleven RUs in the University of Wisconsin system have had alarming enrollment declines.

Between 2014 and 2023, seven of the 10 RUs in Minnesota experienced double-digit enrollment declines, ranging from Winona State’s 28% enrollment decline to Bemidji State’s 17% decline. All of the University of Minnesota’s regional universities had double-digit enrollment declines. These declines cause fiscal instability, resulting in five classified as “weak,” and four as “moderate” in Bain & Company’s financial analyses of U.S. higher education institutions.

Several macrolevel factors contribute to this instability. There’s been a steady demographic decline in the number of traditional college-age students. There are more universities competing for this smaller pool of students.

The student demographic has also changed significantly. One in five students are parents; 37% attend part-time. More than 800,000 Minnesotans have some college credit and no degree. Inconsistent financial support for higher education has also played a role as state funding in Minnesota decreased in 2019, was flat in 2021 and declined again in 2023.

Campus buildings constructed in the 1960s and ‘70s are deteriorating. There’s a growing perception that a college degree isn’t necessary with many traditional aged students opting out of higher education altogether.

To address these challenges, it’s crucial that state leaders and RUs move away from outdated thinking about who we serve and how we serve them. We should adapt to include lifelong learners and provide nontraditional pathways to an education. Badges, credit for prior learning and just-in-time learning should be common and integrated into our offerings. Transfer students shouldn’t lose credit because of a lack of consistency across institutions in how courses are evaluated. High school graduates shouldn’t have to choose between finding employment or going to college.

We must act now. Faculty must rethink what we offer (not just degrees), how (not just in person) and when (flexible schedules). We should develop true partnerships with businesses to provide integrated educational/work experiences no matter which path a learner chooses. Change the rules about how we can use our buildings to allow innovative use of our facilities. Let’s commit to state funding amounts that cover the cost of inflation and mandated salary increases. Let’s finally realize common course numbering for our general education courses for our transfer students.

Addressing these challenges with a willingness to be creative and open to adopting new approaches is essential. At SCSU we did make progress on many fronts as last fall we had our first fall-to-fall enrollment increase since 2015. We made inroads to serving lifelong learners, growing our online MBA enrollment from 28 to 400.

But a president can’t make these changes alone. To succeed, it’ll take everyone’s commitment and courage in the higher education ecosystem to remove barriers to meaningful change. Our state higher education leaders, legislators, faculty and staff must work together and provide the support, incentives and expectations to ensure we’re serving the evolving needs of Minnesotans and thereby the long-term viability of our institutions.

I encourage us to act with urgency to make the changes needed to address issues impacting all our RUs. Let’s look beyond the headlines, stop believing that one institution is our only problem. Adopting a systemic perspective of the challenges will provide systemic actions that will ensure a bright future for RUs in Minnesota.

Robbyn Wacker is a higher-education consultant. She served as St. Cloud State University’s president from 2018 until June 30.