FORT WAYNE, Ind. — A weak economy and college recruiting efforts have combined to send more Indiana students to college than ever before.
The Indiana Commission for Higher Education says the number of high school students attending college doubled between 1992 and 2007. There are 485,000 students currently enrolled in public and private colleges.
Commission spokesman Jason Bearce tells the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne that Indiana has done a good job of stressing the importance of college. He said the economy also has sent more people back to school.
Terry Spradlin of Indiana University's Center for Evaluation and Education Policy says changes in recruiting and admission policies have helped fuel the increase.
Indiana ranks 43rd nationally for the percentage of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher.
However, Ball State's freshman class enrollment is smaller this year than previous ones, but university officials said the incoming students make up in quality what they lack in quantity.
Tom Taylor, vice president for Enrollment, Marketing and Communications, said the 2010 class is comparable in size to the freshman classes of 2006 and 2007, which is the university's target class size, he said.
The 2006 freshman class enrollment was 3,995 students and the 2007 freshman enrollment was 3,773 students.
The enrollment numbers for 2008 incoming freshmen was 4,039 students and 2009 was 4,178 students.
This year, Ball State has a larger on-campus enrollment by a couple hundred students as well as a larger off-campus enrollment.
Last year's on-campus, undergraduate enrollment was 15,833 students and off-campus enrollment was 2,346 students.
Taylor said every year Ball State evaluates where it is with applications, but he expects the school will continue to raise standards for students as the university moves forward.
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