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Univ. of Wyoming And WY Community Colleges Addressing Enrollment Decrease Situation

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Certain jobs require employees to have a certain type of educational background, but with inflation and rising tuition costs as a result of the covid pandemic, some are wondering if it’s worth it anymore.

Studies show in the past 10 years, total college enrollment has dropped by about 10%, which is almost 2-million students.

Those statistics accelerated when the COVID pandemic started.

The effects are being felt in Wyoming as well.

The University of Wyoming recently reported an increase of in-state students for the current semester of classes, but also had a decrease in out of state enrollment.

UW President Ed Seidel says college recruiters are working on digital advertising to make the University more attractive to potential future students, but they also have to convince them that it’s worth it.

“I think people are questioning the value of a higher education and I think we’ll have to work very hard to make sure to convince people that it is really a value to them and also that we have offerings that really do help students succeed.”

The college enrollment issue has also hit the community colleges as well.

Sheridan College President Dr. Walter Tribley says generally speaking, there’s proof that a higher education can pay off.

“Your wages are more likely to be higher, as your education level goes up. When you look at the statistics throughout the United States, there’s a clear correlation between the higher education you have, the more weekly income you make. Your likelihood of you being unemployed becomes greater, the less education you have.”

Full-term enrollment numbers at Sheridan College for the current semester are down by about 56 students compared to this time last year, which is about 5-percent.

As many colleges and universities face a decline in enrollment nationwide, one of the things they probably don’t want to do is raise the cost of tuition.

Last month the Wyoming Community College Commission decided to leave tuition costs where they’ve been since 2020.

When the commission sets tuition rates, one of the guiding principles used is that a college’s tuition revenue, be equivalent to 18 to 22-percent of total college operating revenue.

Megan Goetz is the chairwoman of the Commission.

She says current and recent events have made it difficult for potential students to get a post-secondary education let alone consider it.

So the commission decided to not make things more difficult on the pocketbook than it already is.

“A lot of it is just the economy and the status of the world we live in right now, but one of the things we as the commission want to do is remove as many barriers as possible to encourage folks both right out of high school as well as adult learners. Now is the time to come back to school, especially in Wyoming and our community colleges.”

The current Wyoming Community College tuition rate is $105 per credit hour for in-state students, $158 per hour credit for students from the surrounding states, and $315 per credit hour for all other non-Wyoming students.

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