HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Marshall University President Brad Smith says the demographic cliff has reached Huntington but Marshall is getting prepared.
Smith talked about fall enrollment numbers and the future in his report to the MU Board of Governors at the board’s meeting Wednesday afternoon in Huntington.
Marshall’s enrollment is up by 1.5 percent compared to last year but that’s counting high school students who take part in dual enrollment. Smith said if you subtract that number enrollment is slightly down.
“If you back out the high school dual enrollment then our enrollment was roughly flat. It was actually down three-tenths of one percent,” Smith said. “That means the signal’s clear, the demographic cliff is hear and it’s scheduled to be here between now and 2042.”
The demographic cliff is a drop in college-aged students nationwide because of a decline in birth rates.
Smith said the cliff is real but Marshall also has nearly 2,000 freshmen on campus who have brought what he described as phenomenal energy to campus.
“Positive momentum, challenging headwinds, that’s life and that’s life on a university campus and as we always do as Marshall, we’re doing it together and we’ve done it as a team,” Smith said.
Marshall has an enrollment of 13,094 students.
Smith said the demographic cliff and the advancement of AI will mean adjustments to the “Marshall for All” program which makes a way for students to finish their degrees with a job and debt free.
“We knew the demographic cliff was coming and generative AI really picked up steam after we wrote ‘Marshall For All’ in 2022 and then there are changes in national and state policy that we’ve had to adjust to along the way,” Smith said.
Marshall has four work efforts taking place on campus to be ready for enrollment changes including a budget advisory committee, a consulting firm working with Marshall on what Smith called an academic fitness test, an effort how to improve student success through improving graduation and retention rates and dealing with AI, which started with summer workshops.
Smith said there will be a refreshed “Marshall For All” plan on a page by Dec. 31.
“We will then come into a new calendar year with our strategy for the next three to five years but we’re doubling down and we’ll be up on our toes building momentum,” Smith said.
Marshall also plans to increase its Metro Tuition area to a 150-mile radius and lean inti its direct admission and similar programs.
Smith said Marshall will continue to welcome dual enrollment. He said 40 percent of those students end up attending Marshall and 60 percent of those students end up graduating on time.