March 28, 2024

Wittenberg has experienced a smaller incoming freshman class for the 2015-2016 academic year.
Despite the smaller class, Interim Vice President of Advancement Wendy Kobler stated the administration was very pleased with the academic quality and the diversity of the class.
“With national trends of declining college-aged students, we, too, have felt the impact with fewer students enrolling,” said Executive Director of Admission Karen Hunt. “This result equates to less revenue, which impacts the institution’s overall budget.”
Reports also explain that the net tuition fee revenue for each student  is a little bit stronger than senior leadership expected.
University officials believe that this metric signifies the quality and value associated with a Wittenberg education in a competitive marketplace.
The incoming freshman class has an average grade point average of 3.5 out of 4.0.
“I feel that the smaller incoming freshman class is a result of a couple of things. It is a result of high tuition cost and ineffective marketing for Wittenberg University,” senior DaShawn Glover said.
“However, I feel that there is something about the incoming class that will wind up changing the entire atmosphere of Wittenberg for the better.”
“Last year, we had 566 new students on census day, and we are estimating 535-540 at this year’s census day,” Hunt said.
Wittenberg wants to continue making progress and focus on offering quality over quantity at the university, said Wittenberg University President Laurie Joyner.
“Demographic shifts remain a big part of the issue for independent colleges and universities, especially in the Midwest,” Joyner said.
“Wittenberg remains focused on offering quality, high-demand academic programs, and working to contain costs to address affordability concerns, she said.
“We are also committed to educating the public and the media about the value of independent education in the state, she said.
“For example, independent colleges and universities, like Wittenberg, offer significant financial aid and typically boast higher retention and graduation rates as compared to a number of larger institutions.”
In order for Wittenberg to remain successful with diversifying that campus they will continue to make long term decisions, she said.
“We have recognized for the past three years that creating a sustainable financial model will depend upon a number of strategic decisions such as diversifying our programs (e.g., 1+2+1 Nursing Pathway Program with Clark State, new majors in Sport Management and Exercise Science, a new Master’s program in Business Analytics, etc.) and markets (e.g., non-traditional and international students),” Joyner said.
In addition, Wittenberg wants to continue to make the school affordable for all students; therefore, the yearly student tuition has remained frozen and has not increased within the past three years, she said.
“Wittenberg has not raised tuition in three years, and we are exploring a number of new shared service agreements with other organizations to help further contain costs and keep our highly-rated Wittenberg education affordable for students and families,” Joyner said.

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