KU numbers

A slightly smaller student body probably isn’t bad news for Kansas University this year.

The small decline in enrollment reported by Kansas University this fall doesn’t necessarily represent a step backward.

The official 20th-day enrollment figures reported to the Kansas Board of Regents showed KU had 542 fewer students enrolled this fall than in 2009. That’s a decline of 1.8 percent.

Even though it’s only a small drop, it’s not surprising that KU officials wanted to minimize its importance. A press release on the enrollment figures didn’t mention the 1.8 percent decline until the eighth paragraph.

What KU wanted to emphasize were figures that reflect greater diversity and stronger academic talent among its student body. That’s fair, especially considering KU’s focus on raising its national stature.

KU reported that this year’s freshman class had an average ACT score of 24.9, well above the national average of 22. The current student body also is the most diverse in KU history, with 14.4 percent of students identifying themselves with ethnic minority groups. International enrollment increased to its highest level since 1993.

These are all good signs for KU. Increased diversity not only benefits minority students but enhances the educational environment for all KU students. Higher ACT scores indicate students may be better prepared for a university curriculum, which means KU would have to expend fewer resources on remedial work and, hopefully, that more students will be able to advance to their sophomore year and complete university degrees.

Only one state university in Kansas recorded an enrollment increase this year, and that was Fort Hays State which depends heavily on enrollment in its Virtual College, including partner colleges in China, to keep its enrollment numbers up. Fort Hays recorded an increase of 575 students this fall, but only 72 of those students actually attend classes on its Hays campus.

It was disappointing that KU’s undergraduate enrollment decline (3.5 percent) was greater than the overall decline. That may indicate that, for financial or academic reasons, more students are choosing to start their higher education at a community college. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the possibility that tuition increases have caused more students to be priced out of an opportunity to attend a state university still should concern KU and the Board of Regents.

Given the financial stresses created by large cuts in state funding, a slightly lower enrollment actually may benefit KU by allowing it to better focus its resources rather than spreading them more thinly. Bigger almost always means better, but KU has reason to be satisfied this year with a slightly smaller enrollment that represents a more diverse and academically prepared student body.