From staff reports
Pennsylvania Western University, in a news release, said preliminary enrollment numbers for fall 2023 indicate it is continuing on a path to enrollment stability and fiscal sustainability.
The university, operating in its second year with campuses in Clarion, Edinboro and California, is up more than 3% in full-time-equivalent (FTE) enrollment from the target that was set for fall 2023.
“Given the continued pressures facing higher education institutions and recognizing enrollment losses over the last decade, we strategically set our enrollment target for fall 2023,” said Sarah Freed, interim vice president for Strategic Enrollment Management.
“To be ahead of target for the number of FTE students — a number that universities use in budgeting — at this time is very positive and is essential to our goal of financial sustainability as an integrated university.”
“Integration, along with strategic enrollment management plans and related budgeting models, has allowed PennWest to focus on what is most important — offering our students expanded program choices that are delivered in ways that are most convenient for them,” said Lorraine Bernotsky, interim president of PennWest.
The overall decline in head count is about 11.5%, the release said.
“We are pleased with an increased retention rate from first-year students to sophomores,” Bernotsky said. “It’s a positive indicator, a reflection that we are offering that first class of PennWest students the courses, academic support, and robust student life experiences they are looking for.”
