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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Fewer young people are showing up at Utah's college campuses, with some of them delaying or skipping post-secondary education for employment.
Six of Utah's nine state-owned colleges and universities are showing a drop in the number of full-time students on campus this fall, according to preliminary figures provided by the schools.
Only three of the schools report modest gains -- the University of Utah up 257 students, Southern Utah University up 130 and Snow College up seven full-time students from last year.
The largest enrollment decline appears to be at Utah State University, to 16,590 this fall from 17,213 full-time students in 2004.
In an improving economy, "schooling takes a back seat to work," said Phil Alletto, student services vice president at Dixie State College, told The Salt Lake Tribune. "People don't have time to take many classes."
The total number of students at St. George-based Dixie is up, but only because of part-time students. Many students are taking fewer credit hours, so full-time enrollment this fall has declined to 4,495 from 4,518, Alletto said.
Joyce Kinkead, USU vice provost for undergraduate studies, sees factors other than an improved job market contributing to her school's 623-student enrollment decline.
She cites a drop in the number of graduates from USU's feeder high schools, tougher Utah residency requirements for out-of state students, increased competition as more state community colleges offer four-year degrees, and a drop in transfer students from the former two-year Ricks College, now the four-year Brigham Young University-Idaho.
The state's larger schools attribute a decline of about 4 percent in international student enrollments to tighter homeland security restrictions and growing competition for students from Canada and the European Union.
"Enrollment fluctuations are normal in higher education, mirroring demographic changes and economic up- and downswings," Kinkead said.
University of Utah economist Pamela Perlich says higher education will not see another boom of high school graduates until 2016. A demographic shift already was apparent in fall 2004, when the state's public colleges and universities added a combined total of 817 students over the previous year, an increase of less than 1 percent.
State funding is tied to a formula based on the strength of full-time equivalent students at each school. Under the formula, one full-time equivalent equals an undergraduate student taking 15 credit hours or three part-time students each taking five credit hours per semester.
In the past, the University of Utah has received about $3,000 a year in taxpayers' money for every full-time student, according to Paul Brinkman, vice president for planning and budget at the University of Utah.
Final enrollment numbers will be tallied later this month by the state Board of Regents, the governor-appointed body that sets policies and divvies up public money among Utah's public colleges and universities. Regents use their tally in budgeting requests to the Legislature.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
