Fall Enrollment Numbers

[wiu712]

WIU reports enrollment decrease, positive retention trends.
From Tri-States Public Radio,, WIUM-FM:
https://www.tspr.org/tspr-local-news/20 ... ion-trends


Illinois' state universities report modest enrollment shifts.
From The Center Square - Illinois:
https://www.thecentersquare.com/illinoi ... 28f08.html

 
 
 
 
 

[wiu712]

WIU reports total fall 2026 enrollment of 4,447.
From the Muddy River News:
https://muddyrivernews.com/top-stories/ ... 914073135/
 
 

[Wiufan87]

Have done some research on our enrollment trends.  Our Fall enrollment is down for 18 consecutive years from 13,175 in 2008.  I think we have nowhere to go but up we need to stop the hemorrhaging as a collective group.  The job is too big for one person.  We need to stabilize our losses before we grow.  Illinois has grown to 61,000 enrollment in Champaign/Urbana that is up from about 35,000 in the past.  I think they are a bigger institution but are getting too big for themselves.  I want to continue to do my part go Western!

[ST_Lawson]

Have done some research on our enrollment trends.  Our Fall enrollment is down for 18 consecutive years from 13,175 in 2008.  I think we have nowhere to go but up we need to stop the hemorrhaging as a collective group.  The job is too big for one person.  We need to stabilize our losses before we grow.  Illinois has grown to 61,000 enrollment in Champaign/Urbana that is up from about 35,000 in the past.  I think they are a bigger institution but are getting too big for themselves.  I want to continue to do my part go Western!

I've been tracking enrollment back to 2002. The high point was actually in 2006 at 13,602, and we technically did increase a little bit from 2021 to 2022 (7,455 to 7,643), but you are correct overall. It's been mostly downhill since about 20 years ago.

I see a number of trends that are all working against us right now:

• Enrollment "cliff" - fewer new college-age students in general due to overall demographics
• International student enrollment across the country is down due to the current political situation in the US
• Flagship universities across many states have been admitting more students to help hedge against this "cliff" (leaving fewer students for the smaller, more regional universities)
• Population declines in rural areas, which has been a large portion of our student population over the years
• Slower growth in population in the midwestern states (as opposed to places like the southeast and southwest), which is where the majority of our students come from

There are other reasons more specific to us, but those are some pretty big headwinds to be heading into for small midwestern universities. That's why, when you look at a map of schools that have closed in the last ~6 years, the vast majority of them are small private schools in the midwest and northeast (four from Illinois, with two essentially just across the Mississippi river: https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/c ... -closures/).

Now, what can we do about it? A few ideas...

• If you have family, friends, or other people you know who are at the age of looking at colleges, talk to them about Western. Tell them about the new Goldfarb Performing Arts center, some of our high-quality programs, the smaller class sizes and personalized attention, Macomb's affordability, etc. Other stuff can be found here: https://www.wiu.edu/successhappenshere/
• If you can afford to donate to the school, do that.
• If you live in Illinois, learn more about and do what you can to support the Adequate and Equitable Public University Funding Act (SB 13 / HB 1581) at https://transformhigheredil.org/
• If you're on social media, talk positively about Western. Try not to bring up how great things were "back in your day" and how much different things are now...push the positives.
• If you live close to Macomb, show up at university events. See shows at the Goldfarb Center, go to athletics events, theatre and dance performances, school of music concerts and recitals, and any other publicly-accessible university events.
• And if you live in/near Macomb and are in a situation where you're in contact with students periodically...be friendly and welcoming. For many of them, Macomb/Western is a very different situation than what they experienced at home/HS. Help them feel welcomed to our community.

I realize I'm probably "preaching to the choir" on many of these things...if you're invested enough to be hanging around this message board, you're probably already doing at least a couple of these things...but if you know people who aren't as "in the know", then let them know. If you have friends from your time at Western (I assume most of us are alumni) who any of the above could apply to, talk to them...invite them to a game or a show...share info about the higher ed funding bill, etc.

We can't really do much about national and regional trends, but there are some things we can do to help the school that we all care so much about.
 

[Wiufan87]

Boy Scott do you care.  Talk about research.  Last Spring I sent out 1,463 emails to guidance counselors in Illinois in 101 counties for Discover Western.  I'm trying to help from my apt in Mason City, Iowa.  My school will go down with me kicking and screaming.  Admissions says I'm passionate, you better believe I'm passionate.  Over the next month I will be sending emails again before Oct 12, 30 and Nov 14 Discover Western.  We need to get people to our nice campus in Macomb.  

[ST_Lawson]

Boy Scott do you care.  Talk about research.  Last Spring I sent out 1,463 emails to guidance counselors in Illinois in 101 counties for Discover Western.  I'm trying to help from my apt in Mason City, Iowa.  My school will go down with me kicking and screaming.  Admissions says I'm passionate, you better believe I'm passionate.  Over the next month I will be sending emails again before Oct 12, 30 and Nov 14 Discover Western.  We need to get people to our nice campus in Macomb.  

 

That's awesome. If every WIU alumnus was able to do half of what you are doing, we'd be in great shape.