WINONA, Minn. – Depending on how enrollment is calculated, the 10-year loss at Winona State University is 29% or 35%. By headcount, to be precise to the first decimal, the enrollment went from 8,795 in 2013 to 6,165 this fall – a 29.5% decline. By full-time equivalency, which prorates part-time students, the enrollment went from 8,459 to 5,442 – a decline of 35.6%. Either way, it’s accurate to say the university has lost one-third of its enrollment over 10 years.
NOTE: An earlier Winona Journal post mislabeled a full-time equivalency chart as headcount. The error has been corrected.
Headcount
2013: 8,795
2014: 8,701
2015: 8,486
2016: 8,128
2017: 7,970
2018: 7,788
2019: 7,602
2020: 7.124
2021: 6,563
2022: 6,165
10-year change:
2,630 (-29.3%)
FTE
2013: 8,459
2014: 8,267
2015: 8,148
2016: 7,349
2017: 7,164
2018: 6,966
2019: 6,835
2020: 6,322
2021: 5,761
2022: 5,442
10-year change:
3,017 (-35.6%)
Different counts
Colleges use headcount and full-time equivalent enrollment figures for different purposes. FTEs are less than headcounts because part-time students are counted only as a fraction. At Winona State a 15-credit load is considered full-time for undergrads and 10 credits for grad students. The FTE is invariably less than the headcount.