WINONA, Minn. – Winona State University projects 6,350 students next fall — down 240 from this fall and off 2,000-plus from a peak eight years ago. These aren’t numbers that the university flaunts, unlike years ago when university publicists issued news releases trumpeting enrollment growth. The peak was 2013 with 8,544 students. This fall, at 6,590, was off 22%. The projection for next fall, at 6,350, is off 24.9%. The projection the year after, 6,300, is off 25.5%. Although the university doesn’t work at bringing attention to its shrinking enrollment, university President Scott Olson, who has presided over the decline, acknowledges the drop: “We are a smaller institution than we were 10 years ago.”
The record
2013: 8,459
2014: 8,267
2015: 8,148
2016: 7,890
3017: 7,530
2018: 7,357
2019: 7,216
2020: 7,044
The future
2021: 6,590
2022: 6,350
2023: 6,300
Data for fall semesters.
Calculating enrollments
The standard unit to measure enrollment is not a body count but FTE, short for “full-time equivalent.” As example, a college may hve 12,000 students taking classes, but if they’re all taking half loads, the FTE would be 6,000. Enrollment typically is measured on an agreed-upon date, like the 10th day of classes, which makes for an apples-to-apples comparison among colleges.