UC remains an outlier nationally when it comes to enrollment growth

UC has continued to break enrollment records annually, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported in it's Regional Education Guide. This fall the university welcomed 53,235 students, a 4.5% increase from the previous year. Online learners increased by 9.6%, enrollment at UC Blue Ash increased by 6.7% and UC Clermont's enrollment was up 15.8%.

Nationally, college enrollment has decreased at a rate of about 1.5% each year since 2011. Ohio’s higher education institutions aren’t exempt from the national trends. In the last 10 years, total enrollment has decreased 11.4%, according to the Ohio Department of Higher Education.

The university system of Ohio enrolled a total of 509,714 students in fall 2014. This fall, that number dropped to 451,477 students.

UC President Neville Pinto says making a college education more accessible to the region and beyond is an important part of the university’s mission. 

“Where are we going to be as a country if we don’t continue the growth of our talent pool,” Pinto told the Cincinnati Business Courier. “Is it sufficient to just have 39% of our population going to college? Or do we have to aspire for a higher number?

“We’ve got to start to reach out to populations that otherwise would not go to college … and build the structures and the programs that create pathways for them to come here. We cannot have this elitist model … to have a strong democracy, everyone has to have equal opportunity.”

Read the full story in the Cincinnati Business Courier.

If subscription fees are required, email cedric.ricks@uc.edu for a PDF of the story.

Featured top image of UC President Neville Pinto speaking during the grand re-opening of Siddall Hall. Photo by Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.