The Kansas Board of Regents released the latest enrollment numbers for state universities.
Overall, Kansas State University saw a decline of 574 students. President Richard Myers reported during his state of the university address last Friday that K-State has been declining from their 20-year peak in 2014, when the university had an enrollment of 24,766 students. In 2017, that number was 22,795 students and this year there are about 22,221 students enrolled.
Myers said there are multiple reasons for the decline in college enrollment that is being recorded across the state as well as nationwide.
“That shift is amplified by lower-paying jobs that drive some students to seek other options than 4-year college degrees,” Myers said during his address. “The enrollment challenge is even greater in Kansas where the percentage of high school graduates pursuing any higher education has dropped over 13 percent since 2012.”
Despite the net loss, K-State is reporting an increase in freshman enrollment at the university for the Fall 2018 semester.
The 2018 freshmen class grew 3 percent compared to 2017. The university has seen growth among both in-state and out-of-state students in the freshmen class, which has been reported as the two top goals of the university’s strategic enrollment management plan.
The retention of freshmen becoming sophomores has also increased and is the highest in university history at 85.5 percent. The university also graduated a record 3,258 students in May. The university’s four-year graduation rate is 40.4 percent and six-year graduation rate is 64 percent — which are both records for the university.
