Snow College is Up!

When the LDS Church announced last October the age for missionary service had been dropped from 19 to 18 for male members and 21 to 19 for female members, colleges and universities across Utah braced for the impact it would have on their enrollments. Snow College, with the youngest and most LDS student body in the state, had the most to be concerned about. Early projections were the College would drop by as much as 25%, of its tuition paying students. An enrollment drop of this magnitude would have a huge financial impact on tuition revenues and auxiliary operations such as housing and food services. The result would be lay-offs and program reductions.

The College came together and went to work. Now, after months of worry and long hours, everyone is taking a deep breath and a sigh of relief. You might call it a miracle of sorts because, while enrollments dropped at every university in Utah, they stayed steady at Snow College. In fact they increased, a little. The official Utah System of Higher Education Fall 2013 3^rd Week Enrollment report is just out and it reveals the number of students at Snow College actually increased this fall over last fall—by 6 students—and full-time equivalent enrollments increased—by 25 students—not bad.

The graph that follows shows the percent change in full-time equivalent (FTE) students at each college and university from fall 2012 to fall 2013. FTE is a way of counting full-time students.

The next graph shows the percent change in total students from fall 2012 to fall 2013, including full-time and part-time students.

This final graph shows the growth in FTE students over the last five years. Snow College leads with 8.12% per year, or 40.6% over five years. This growth suggests high school graduates, and parents, looking for the best value for a higher education are finding it at Snow College.