WINONA, Minn. – Winona State is hardly alone with declining enrollment, university President Scott Olson said. Recruiting new students has become fierce with many colleges cutting admission standards to stem losses. The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities no longer requires the usual ACT and SAT entrance exams or essays or reference letters, Olson said. Some competing colleges have slashed tuition. He cited Concordia in St. Paul, which has cut tuition 35%. Also, he said, online programs from institutions that don’t have expensive physical campuses are a factor. Winona State, Olson said, has long-term advantages with a private college feel at a public university price. “That’s a good place to be, but that’s a place that is at risk because we are more selective than our state siblings,” he said. “They’re going after our niche and so the question then becomes, ‘how do we preserve this niche?’”
Campus forums
Winona State holds periodic forums at which administrators level with faculty, staff and students on budget strategies. These forums draw as many as 400 campus stakeholders but aren’t publicized beyond campus. There are no new releases.
Student journalism
The Winona State student newspaper has a reporter, junior McKenna Scherer, who provides more thorough coverage of university budget issues than other media.