(ERIN KILLINGER | The Miami Student)
Miami University has seen a 2.2 percent increase in enrollment numbers over the last 10 years.
Although the university has enlarged the total number of students at the Oxford campus, other Ohio universities have all seen bigger increases than Miami.
In reports released by the university, Miami had a total enrollment of 16,290 students at the Oxford campus as of Oct. 15, 2000.
Miami's enrollment was at 16,653 at the end of last week, according to Denise Krallman, director of institutional research.
"If we looked at trend information over the last few years, we've been pretty stable at being between 14,500 to 15,000 (undergraduate students)," Krallman said.
But other Ohio colleges report a bigger boost.
The Ohio State University (OSU) reported a 14.7 percent increase over the last nine years. As of their autumn quarter in 2000, OSU reported 47,952 students on their Columbus campus.
In autumn 2009, the campus saw a total of 55,014.
Bumps in enrollment are not exclusive to Ohio State's campus.
University of Cincinnati (UC) has experienced similar circumstances in their enrollment numbers over a 10 year period.
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UC also reported a nearly 14 percent increase on their main campus. UC's enrollment numbers in fall 2000 were reportedly 27,327 students and jumped to 31,134 total students in 2009.
One of the things that helped enrollment numbers rise at UC was the application process, said Caroline Miller, UC senior associate vice president for enrollment management.
"We've appreciatively raised admissions standards," Miller said. "While that sounds like it may reduce your market opportunities because you're only available to stronger students, it opens up the market to students who may have not looked at UC in previous years."
Ohio University did not fare as well as UC or OSU, but still saw a 9.6 percent increase in total enrollment at the Athens campus. OU increased from a student enrollment of 19,092 in the fall quarter of 2000 to 20,935 in fall 2009.
OSU, UC and OU were unable to release their fall quarter estimates for 2010.
University of Dayton had a 5.6 percent increase over the last 10 years, swelling from 10,315 enrolled in 2000 to an estimated 10,900 in 2010.
Krallman said the university has plans to increase student enrollment slowly.
"I know there are plans for small, incremental growth," Krallman said.
Wright State University (WSU) predicts a 30 percent increase from 2000 to fall 2010, partly aided by a regional campus, according to Nadine Brown, the school's executive director of marketing and enrollment support.
"We have growth at our Lake campus," Brown said.
Brown said WSU attributes growth at their campus to the economy.
"Given the economy, we are one of the lowest public four-year universities for tuition," Brown said. "We found that (students) are migrating more towards their hometown and going to a public state school with lower tuition."
Krallman said Miami has seen the same increase with its own regional campuses.
"The thing helping the Hamilton campus is online courses," Krallman said.
Tuition has also had an impact on the increase of students at Miami regional campuses.
"That's one of the things regional campuses offer is low tuition," Krallman said.
Krallman estimates the attraction to regional campuses is not exclusive to Miami.
"When you're looking at the state of Ohio, a lot of the growth is in the regional colleges," Krallman said.
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