ECU enrollment numbers up, trustees focus on more competitive growth

East Carolina University staff said that scholarship initiatives will be a key factor in growing enrollment, but one trustee expressed concern that the university’s growth seems to flag behind peer institutions.

During a meeting of the ECU Board of Trustees University Affairs Committee meeting on Thursday, trustee Tom Furr pointed out that the percentage growth for enrollment at ECU between Fall 2023 and Fall 2024 semesters trailed Appalachian State University, the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Those universities are often cited in trustees meetings as ECU’s peer institutions within the UNC System’s 17 universities.

Numbers released by the UNC System earlier this month showed enrollment grew across the system, with a record 247,928 students across institutions. ECU’s numbers grew by less than 1% from 26,785 to 26,941. Appalachian State’s growth was 1.5%, from 21,253 to 21,570, UNCC grew just over 2% from 30,298 to 31,091 and UNCW saw nearly 5% growth from 17,987 to 18,847.

Furr expressed his concern that UNCC has more students than ECU but still grew at a higher rate. Robin Coger, ECU’s provost and senior vice chancellor of academic affairs, explained that any enrollment growth is positive but that enrollment itself is not a linear issue. Instead, it comes down to factors including reputation, scholarships and inter-university competition she said.

Coger said it is important trustees understand there is certainly work to do, but that comparing different institutions is tricky. She said that larger universities like North Carolina State University growing its freshman base means fewer students attending ECU. A federal financial aid glitch earlier this year that forced institutions to extend their application deadlines into mid-May had impacts on universities and ECU particularly, Coger said.

“If you had looked at that same list you’re looking at we probably would have been number two about four years ago,” Coger told Furr. “The point about losing market share is true, we have lost market share.”

Coger referenced the Chancellor’s Scholars Initiative, a priority launched this year that aims to offer 4-year recruitment scholarships for top students. She said ECU does not automatically grant scholarships to high-achieving students accepted to the university, but that other institutions do. That can lead students to opt out of attending even if ECU feels like a better fit, she said.

Board materials said the university’s immediate goal is to create 100 Chancellor’s Scholar’s awards by December with a long-term goal of awarding 200 or more annually. The initiative also aims to help the university meet the UNC System’s performance metrics and goals in order to leverage maximum funding from the state.

Enrollment has been at the heart of discussions for ECU’s trustees and other higher education institutions for years in the face of an “enrollment cliff.” A 2020 report by the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education anticipates a rapid decline in North Carolina’s high school graduates in 2027-2028. A revised U.S. Census Bureau forecast also predicts the number of 18-year-olds will likely not eclipse 4 million this century.

On Friday, during a meeting of the full board, Chancellor Philip Rogers said trustees are asking the right questions about enrollment. He said the university is “actively deploying strategies” to address new student recruitment, student retention, timely graduation and long-term fiscal planning efforts.

Rogers said ECU cannot control macro-economic issues like household income or unemployment rates. Instead, he said there are ways the university can help itself including delivering on its value proposition, streamlining credit transfer processes for incoming students from other institutions, boosting its brand awareness and continuing to offer high quality online learning opportunities.

The board in November will hold a joint meeting of its University Affairs and Strategy and Innovation committees which Rogers and trustees said will zero in on enrollment. Trustees asked faculty leadership to attend that meeting.

During the Friday meeting the board approved a $24.5 million indoor multisport athletic facility, the Isley Indoor Performance Center. The project is funded by the Pirate Club and will require further approval by the UNC Board of Governors.