Why some of CCU’s enrollment numbers are concerning but others are a pleasant surprise
While Coastal Carolina is still combating a decline in student applications, particularly among in-state high school students, it has managed to add more students than expected to its enrollment in the middle of the school year with a solid retention rate and addition of new students.
Enrollment in the fall was down 3.6 percent compared to 2019-20, and enrollment in the spring is projected to be down 2.2 percent compared to last spring at 9,208 full-time equivalent students, including 700 graduate students, Provost Dan Ennis reported during a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday.
FTE counts part-time students as a percentage of a student, so CCU’s total enrollment in the fall was 10,118 and is expected to be just under 10,000 this spring, Ennis said. Coastal had 9,527 full-time equivalent students in the fall.
The school has retained 89.3 percent of its students from the fall to the spring, compared to 88.9 percent last school year, Ennis said.
Because the long-term mid-year retention rate norm that is used for financial planning is 88 percent, the number of students in the spring has increased more than expected from the fall, Ennis said. In addition, CCU is adding 50 new freshmen, which Ennis said is typical, 225 transfers, which is a slight increase, and 150 readmissions who are coming back to CCU after time away. The numbers are estimates based on applications, acceptances and deposits received.
“That is actually for us progress,” Ennis said. “The good news is we actually picked up students between the fall and the spring. Typically at Coastal we do not pick up students mid-year.”
Students who opted to attend classes virtually this fall have generally not opted to return to campus for in-person classes in the spring, however, and Ennis said the school hopes those deferrals return next fall, when the spread of the coronavirus is hopefully more under control.
Applications for the fall 2021 semester are down 3 percent at 10,255 compared to applications for the 2020 fall semester at this time last year.
“We have fought the fall struggles with applications like every other school of which I’m aware,” Ennis said. “Application drag is a real phenomenon in higher education. . . . The number of high school students who went to college this year dropped by 21 percent. We expect a similar drop next year because of course of the carry-on effects of COVID.”
In-state applications for the fall are down 25 percent, while out-of-state applications are up 18 percent.
Coastal generally has a 50-50 balance between in-state and out-of-state students. The significant increase in out-of-state applicants can benefit CCU financially because of the higher tuition cost, but Ennis stressed that the university’s obligation to the state will require it to attract more applications from South Carolina.
“Normally I would be excited about that, but of course our public mission is to our state,” Ennis said. “So we’re now going to [assign] some resources to in-state students where we have a troubling decline. That’s a moral challenge for us because we are a South Carolina school and it’s also a political challenge. We cannot go into Columbia having 65 percent out-of-state students in the fall and expect to prevail in some of our conversations with the legislature about our role in the state.
“If we cannot get our South Carolinians at Coastal Carolina we need to do something different. . . . So public outreach to South Carolinians I believe is in order right now.”
Revenue steady
David Frost, CCU’s CFO and senior vice president for finance, reported revenue was consistent with what was expected at the start of the fall semester, which is an increase of $15.8 million over summer projections with less of a fall enrollment decline than feared and a spring retention rate near what was expected.
The university has submitted $14.7 million in expenses to the state for reimbursement through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and has already received $7.4 million in reimbursements, Frost said.
Coastal will extend the leases of 100 off-campus rooms through the spring semester to house students who are in isolation for positive COVID-19 tests. The campus has had relatively low coronavirus numbers and never utilized more than 40 of the beds in the fall.
The university also reports that hosting ESPN’s popular three-hour College GameDay football show on Saturday had an earned media value – a monetary measure of media coverage – of more than $51,000 per 30 seconds for a total of $18 million.
It was among the highlights of an unprecedented week for CCU and its athletics department that totaled $227 million in earned media value compared to $15.3 million for the same week in 2019, as media mentions went from hundreds in 2019 to more than 7,000 last week.
“We certainly expect and believe that we’re going to see residual impacts for many, many years to come for our area,” CCU director of athletics Matt Hogue said in a video presentation.
Change at the top
With new president Michael T. Benson beginning his tenure on Jan. 2, 13-year president David DeCenzo gave his emotional outgoing remarks during the meeting, including honoring his wife, Terri DeCenzo, the executive director of CCU’s Women in Philanthropy and Leadership (WIPL) organization that has raised more than $250,000 for CCU students since its inception in 2017.
Several board members had kind and appreciative words for DeCenzo, who oversaw tremendous growth in many areas at the university, and it was announced that a residence hall is being renamed in honor of DeCenzo and his wife.
DeCenzo will retain an office on campus as he continues to assist Benson with the presidential transition into June.
This story was originally published December 11, 2020 at 1:34 PM.
