At the MU Spring General Faculty meeting on April 30, one of the hot topics was the makeup of the student body and the trends for the next school year. Anne Korschgen, vice provost for enrollment management, discussed the increase in students in five key areas.
- Students are the first one in their family to attend college.
- Students with an ACT score of 33 or higher.
- Non-Missouri students
- African American students
- Hispanic students
Korschgen said these numbers have been climbing since 2001. In addition, MU had their highest retention rate this year and had 13% more applications filled out. Traditionally, about 40-45% of applications turned in end up enrolling in the university but the administrators expect that number to decrease this year based on the increase in applications and the state of the economy. She added that they have had 900 more applications for financial aid in the freshmen class than last year.
She said that while the numbers are increasing, it is still important for Mizzou to work hard to recruit even more students. Ideas that have been mentioned are attracting more out of state students, especially focusing on Indianapolis and Minneapolis, exploring new scholarshiping and reducing tuition for students in contiguous counties.
