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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2014
KU recruits at more high schools across country
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
CASSIDY RITTER
@CassidyRitter
University of Kansas admissions representatives typically visit about 750 high schools a year, but you can expect that number to increase in the near future. As the new assistant director and admissions representative for the University, Calvin McConnell expects to visit an additional 30 high schools, all in the hopes of increasing the University's outreach to out-of-state students.
The University fell five spots in U.S. News' 2014 National University Rankings, from 101 in 2014 to 106 in 2015. Partially responsible for this decline was the University's drop in "high school counselor rank," which fell from 69 in 2014 to 91 in 2015. U.S. News asked guidance counselors from public high schools mentioned in the "Best High Schools" list to rate which national universities offered the best undergraduate
education. The universities were rated on a scale of one to five, with five being the top score. The University's ranking for 2015 was 3.8.
"The University of Kansas values the work of high school counselors," said Lisa Pinamonti Kress, the director of admissions at the University. "KU hosts a variety of events to inform counselors about updates taking place at KU. KU hosts more than 25 events serving more than 200 counselors throughout Kansas and select out-of-state areas."
In addition to the creation of McConnell's position, the University has also started holding lunches with out-of-state students, as well as sending out-of-state students newsletters and email updates said Elisa Krapcha, the University's Colorado regional representative and the supervisor of the Universities regional representatives. These moves aim to improve the Universities relationship with both out-of-state students and counselors
alike.
"We do quite a bit of outreach, both to high school counselors in Kansas and also into markets around the country where we have a large number of students coming from," said Jack Martin, director of strategic communications at KU. "U.S.News sends its surveys to almost 1,300 high school counselors and so while we are doing outreach to counselors, we are not doing outreach to all counselors in the United States. We focus more of our time and our resources on the counselors who interact with the most potential KU students."
The University has nine standard admissions representatives in Kansas, as well as two transfer admissions representatives, one international admissions representative and eight regional representatives. There are two regional representatives apiece in Colorado and Chicago, as well as one representative in Dallas, St. Louis, Southern California, District of
Columbia and Minneapolis.
McConnell said the University has also held events for high school counselors both in and outof-state. These events include "hosted Guidance Counselor
Source: Office of Institutional Research and Planning
fly-ins for students from secondary/tertiary markets, co-sponsoring the Big XII reception for guidance counselors at the annual National Association of College
Admission Counseling (NACAC) Conference and [the] Guidance Counselor gateway on the Admissions webpage," said McConnell.
Edited by Jordan Fox
Out-of-state student enrollment up in last five years
HANNAH PIERANGELO
@hannahpier
The percent of out-of-state students at the University increased this year while the percent of students from Kansas decreased. Kansas residents make up less than 70 percent of the total, according to the Office of Institutional Research and Planning.
Of the undergraduates on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses at the beginning of the semester, 5,809 or about 36 percent were from other states. That represents a five percentage point increase since 2009.
Students from Kansas made up 13,042 of the total undergraduate population, compared to 15,279 in 2009, according to OIRP.
Matt Melvin, vice provost in enrollment management, said the decline in Kansas residents could be due to a combination of a smaller pool of graduates and efforts to save money.
"The increasing competition for a dwindling number of Kansas high school graduates coupled with a challenging state economy has made the
community college, as well as other regional colleges, a viable option as a cost-savings strategy," Melvin said.
Most out-of-state students attending the University are from Missouri or Illinois, according to OIRP. Those states, along with Kansas and six others, are part of the Midwest Student Exchange program, which allows students who qualify to join the program and pay in-state tuition at state schools. The other states in the program include Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota and Wisconsin.
Melvin said the Midwest Student Exchange program along with KU's reputation makes the school appealing to out-of-state recruits. He said other out-of-state students are willing to pay KU's non-resident rates because the tuition is comparable or cheaper than what they'd pay to attend certain schools in their home state.
"It makes it easier to convince students and families that are looking for an out-of-state experience to place KU in their choice set," Melyvin said.
success recruiting students from outside the Midwest, particularly from Texas and California. Those states are just behind Missouri and Illinois as the most popular home states for students, according to OIRP.
The University has had some
"Word-of-mouth is the most powerful and productive marketing and recruitment tool," Melvin said. "We have already begun tapping into many current KU students from these new markets who are telling their story as ambassadors, telecounselors or who accompany admissions staff members on road trips back to their communities. The student experience resonates much more than us telling them facts and figures about KU."
Rachel Wotawa, a senior from St. Louis, said she decided to come to the University for two main reasons: her choice of major and the low tuition rate.
"I focused more on the architecture program and I liked how KU's was a five-year master's program, so I'd be getting out with a higher degree faster." Wotawa said. "Also cost—it's really helpful
that students from Missouri that major in architecture get in-state tuition at Kansas"
As an architecture major, Wotawa is part of the Kansas-Missouri Reciprocal Tuition agreement. Kansas students going to school for dentistry or optometry in Missouri can also receive in-state tuition there. Wotawa said
that paying in-state tuition made KU her cheapest college choice. She had also considered architecture schools at Tulane University and the University of Minnesota.
More international students are also enrolled at the University this year. According to International
Student Services, 2,283 international students are currently enrolled on the Lawrence and Edwards campuses. This number increased by nearly 150 students in the last four years.The most international students are from are China India and Saudi Arabia.
Edited by Kelsey Phillips
The University Of Kansas School Of Business Presents
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Free and open to all KU students but space is limited and reservations are required.
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