School districts, WSU facing enrollment challenges
Area public school districts seeing more students no longer can expect more state funding as a result. Wichita State University wants more students and the resources they represent, yet saw its fall enrollment drop to the lowest level in eight years. In both cases, dollars now must stretch further.
USD 259’s total of 51,113 students this fall is down from last year by 197, because of two programs for adults eliminated by budget cuts. But the 49,498 students in prekindergarten through 12th grade represent the largest enrollment in more than 10 years. Area districts including Goddard, Maize, Andover, Haysville, Derby and Valley Center reported their own increases.
Higher enrollment used to lead to more funding from Topeka, but the 2015 Legislature repealed the long-standing school-finance formula and kept funding at 2014-15 levels. And a state panel set a threshold of a 2 percent enrollment increase to qualify for help from a new “extraordinary needs” fund. It also deferred USD 259’s request for $980,000 more aid related to the influx of refugee families placed in Wichita.
Just how districts are supposed to manage on frozen funding amid growing enrollment, utility, benefit and other costs is a question for the governor and legislators. The courts also will weigh in.
Meanwhile, the Kansas Board of Regents announced Friday that the six state universities counted 890 fewer students overall this fall than a year ago. So one official explanation offered for Wichita State University’s 3.39 percent decline made sense – that it’s part of a “downward trend” across the system related to fewer high school graduates.
A student body of nearly 15,000 is fairly consistent for WSU, and the latest drop of 508 – to a total 4,495, the lowest since fall 2007 – followed a 3.1 percent increase last fall.
The problem is that WSU is supposed to be in high growth mode. It has spent $2 million on an outside recruiter since 2013, and president John Bardo has set a goal of increasing enrollment to at least 22,000. In that context, even flat enrollment would be disappointing. WSU now even risks being overtaken by Fort Hays State University, where a 2.78 increase this fall put total enrollment just 285 students behind WSU’s.
After increasing tuition annually for the past 12 years, has WSU priced itself out of reach for some? Are there better ways to attract students to WSU than by using an out-of-state recruitment firm? Would such money be better spent on financial aid and scholarships? Certainly WSU leaders’ stated commitment to recruitment in Oklahoma, Texas and other nearby states, including by softening the deterrent of out-of-state tuition rates, holds promise.
While WSU aims to land more Shockers and K-12 districts try to school more students without more money, state leaders should consider whether they’re doing enough to help with both challenges.
For the editorial board, Rhonda Holman
This story was originally published September 28, 2015 at 7:06 PM with the headline "School districts, WSU facing enrollment challenges."