By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Enrollment at Bowling Green State University has defied the gravity of the pandemic.
Despite concerns that enrollment at the university would decline or even crater because of COVID-19, enrollment overall has increased 1.6 percent to 20,232 students enrolled for fall, 2020. That reflects the highest ever number of first year students from fall 2019 deciding to continue their educations at BGSU and growth in professional graduate programs and eCampus. The Firelands campus also saw a 4 percent growth in enrollment.
Back in March Cecilia Castellano, vice president for enrollment management, was very uncertain how many students BGSU would have. But then as the numbers rolled in during the summer, she saw that “we were going to be better than our initial estimates. It’s great news for Bowling Green.”
Overall undergraduate enrollment, Castellano said, is “flat,” with the number of “traditional” students coming to campus directly from high school down 7 percent. That, she said, was to be expected.
But the “tremendous growth” in graduate programs, she said, “more than took care of that.”
Also, retention of last year’s first year students was 79.4 percent, a full 2.3 percent higher than a year ago.
BGSU enrolled 7,400 new students in both the summer and fall terms, with record summer enrollment, that was up 4 percent from 2019
The Pathway Program, which gives students a chance to enroll through Firelands but study in Bowling Green, has also been successful with many of those students matriculating into bachelor’s degree programs on the main campus.
The real pillar of strength was the professional online programs.
Both the online Master’s in Business Administration as well as the traditional in person MBA are strong. Graduate education programs are also “very strong.”
Health professions, including the online RN to BSN program, continue to be areas of growth.
The certificate programs for graduate students through eCampus are also a source of strength.
Overall the university enrolled 30 more in person graduate students than last year, a 2-percent increase.
This appears to support the idea expressed by President Rodney Rogers and Provost Joe Whitehead that the pandemic has speeded up the process for the university adjusting to an impending decline in traditionally aged students.
Castellano said that she does view this as the future. While some high school students will still want the traditional on-campus experience, others are deciding they can earn their bachelor’s degrees online.
The university has also looked at international students as a way to sustain enrollment. Despite travel restrictions because of the pandemic, BGSU enrollment of international students has ticked up. This semester 683 international students are enrolled, a 10 percent increase.
Some students, including first year students, were already in the United States, so are able to be on campus. But those who are still at home can study online, she said.
The university also waived the requirement to submit standardized tests – the ACT or SAT for undergraduates and GRE or GMAT for graduate students – if students could not provide them. The elimination of that barrier, especially in the time of pandemic helped, Castellano said.
More than 1,000 schools, including the most selective, also waived that requirement.
BGSU has waived the requirement for next year as well, and whether to maintain that requirement is being discussed.
That may be one long-term change brought by the pandemic. “It’s too early to tell now what the disruption will be,” Castellano said. “But in my experience of 30 years of doing this, I think when we come out the other side things will look different.”
