Dear OSU Leadership:
Underpinning the goals and financial projections in the university’s new strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared, are targets and related actions for enrollment in Corvallis, OSU-Cascades, and Ecampus. I’m writing to share those with you in some detail for your own planning purposes and for your awareness as we launch implementation of the plan.
Corvallis Campus
Increase undergraduate enrollment (student head count) 1-1.5% per year to 2030.
The modest growth of undergraduate enrollment at Corvallis—driven principally by improved retention and an increase in out-of-state students—will provide financial resources to help meet normal annual inflationary costs while also funding the faculty, staff, and infrastructure necessary to support this growth.
Actions:
- Continue active efforts to recruit and matriculate non-resident students (domestic and international), given the declining college-age population in Oregon.
- Redouble efforts to retain and graduate students, through increased course availability, improved advising, smoother transfer pathways, faster credit articulation, and improved orientation.
- Increase the volume of on-campus housing as housing revenue and campus infrastructure allows, including increasing capacity to serve more students beyond their first year, thereby reducing impacts on available housing for others in the Corvallis community, including OSU employees.
- Create new academic programs in fields where rising student interest and unit and/or university strategic plan goals intersect.
- Revise curricula and courses in low enrollment academic programs to increase student interest and demand.
OSU-Cascades
Increase enrollment (student head count) to 2,200 by 2030.
The long-term enrollment goal for OSU-Cascades is 5,000 students. A goal of 2,200 by 2030 is ambitious, yet realistic. Achieving it will provide resources to bolster faculty, staff, and infrastructure while also helping to fund annual inflationary costs.
Actions:
- Continue investments in marketing and financial aid (under enrollment management), student success, community college partnerships, and physical infrastructure. Improved retention rates through those investments are a critical part of the strategy.
- Build in-demand academic programs at OSU-Cascades using a variety of program delivery modalities and credentials. This will require colleges, schools, and departments to commit to developing and investing in new programs in collaboration with OSU-Cascades.
- As the undergraduate student numbers at OSU-Cascades grow, provide more traditional student services (e.g., wellness and recreation facilities, healthcare services, student housing) to meet expectations of students and families and to avoid burdens on community resources.
Online Education
Grow OSU’s enrollment on Ecampus to 30,000 (student head count) by 2030.
The aim is to significantly increase access to higher education for working adult and modern learners; to maintain a competitive position in the online education market, in which some very large providers are emerging (e.g., ASU and SNHU); and to provide net revenues that can support the overall university mission in teaching, research and engagement.
Actions:
- Increase enrollment of degree-seeking or credential-seeking undergraduate and graduate students in existing programs.
- Launch new high-demand online undergraduate and non-thesis masters programs that are closely adjacent to existing strengths and consistent with mission and commitment to quality.
- Continue growing Ecampus corporate and workforce development collaborations (e.g., Guild Education).
- Develop and launch one or more at-scale degrees in collaboration with a corporate sponsor.
- Build the capacity for holistic enrollment management in online enrollment, considering not just headcount but net revenues.
I will be asking college and administrative leadership to work together in developing plans to address these enrollment goals. Additional planning tools and resources will be made available as we move forward.
Graduate enrollment targets and strategies will be explored in the coming year, led by Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, Phil Mote.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Edward Feser
Provost and Executive Vice President