MUN focused on student retention as total enrolment drops, provost says

Statistics from Memorial University show a decline in key areas of enrolment, including total enrolment and international students.

The university published in its newspaperThe Gazettethat total enrolment has dropped by 5.4 per cent from last fall, while international student enrolment has dropped by 14.5 per cent over that same time frame.

Jennifer Lokash, the university's provost and vice president (academic), said that while the numbers are concerning, Memorial isn't an outlier.

"Obviously any drop in enrolment will be a concern for all universities, but we're not alone in this. Across the country, all Canadian universities are watching enrolment pretty carefully right now, and certainly some decreases were anticipated," Lokash told CBC Radio Wednesday.

"It's not great to see numbers going down, but it's not surprising in some senses."

Lokash said changing demographics, fewer high school graduates, a continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and changes to Canada's international study programare factors that could be playinginto the drop.

Increases are being seen in some places, however. The university reported a 3.3 per cent increase in new and incoming undergraduates from Newfoundland and Labrador.

"Students are still choosing Memorial," she said.

"There definitely has been some decline or trends down in our undergraduate enrolment over the last decade, let's say. But while that's been happening, we've also experienced a very large increase in graduate enrolment. So there's been a bit of balance there."

She added that while it is concerning to see a drop in tuition dollars coming into the university, Memorial has other diverse revenue streams to help the school's bottom line.

With enrolment on a decline, Lokash said the university is currently working through where its enrolment targets should be and exploring ways to boost student retention.

"My biggest focus is on ensuring that the students who are here are having an excellent experience. And I think that what some of thenumbers show me is that we really do need to put some focus on retention," she said.

Fees, infrastructure concerns may not be tied to enrolment

Part of that student experience includes the fees students pay and the facilities they have access to.

Earlier this month, students protested while calling on the Newfoundland and Labrador government to reverse funding cuts it has made to Memorial's operating budget.

The protest on Corner Brook's Grenfell campus largely focused on fees and reinstating a tuition freeze, while students on the St. John's campus demanded better infrastructure maintenance.

Lokash said that while those issues impact students, she doesn't see it correlating with enrolment.

"There might be some decline in the international space because of the international rates, but there's so much going on there that it would be hard to really firmly say that that's what's happening," she said.

"Obviously we would prefer not to be experiencing sustained cuts to our operating grants from the provincial government, but we're in a [planning] mode. So we're managing that as best as we can. Those things may have had an impact, but you know,again people are still coming."

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