Admission and enrollment numbers for the spring 2015 semester are down compared to last spring, interim Provost Susan Ford said during the Faculty Senate meeting Tuesday.

Ford said as of this week, more than 1,000 fewer students are registered for classes for next semester than were registered for spring 2015 at this time last year.

Applications are down by 750 and about 300 fewer students have been admitted for next spring, Ford said. She said freshman and graduate students had the largest decrease.

Ford blames part of the reduction on registration holds because students cannot register for classes until all holds have been cleared. 

She said about 400 students are experiencing holds on their records because their immunization records are not up to date. However, Ford said this number is also lower than in the past.

Students who have not yet completed online consent and respect training are also unable to register for classes. Ford said about 500 students have this hold and should access the training on Salukinet. 

Consent and respect training is required by the university for all new students and transfers.

Ford said the newly changed bursar hold amount is also a significant factor. A few years ago, the minimum debt students could have and still register was increased from $200 to $1,000. However, beginning this semester, the amount was reduced back to $200.

“Within a year, the numbers of students not registered because of the Bursar hold was right back to where it was before the threshold was raised,” Ford said.

When the $1,000 limit was in place, Ford said the university was the only state institution to allow students more than $200 in debt to register.

Ford said the debt limit was announced eight months ago to give students time and resources to pay off their debt and meet the new limit.

“There are still students who struggle to achieve a low enough debt level,” she said, encouraging students to meet with financial aid or their advisers. 

Ford said as of now, about 400 students are unable to register because they owe between $200 and $1,000. 

Fall 2015 enrollment was also down, with about 350 students less this semester compared to last year. 

“I’m particularly concerned about enrollment for spring,” Ford said. 

Anna Spoerre can be reached at [email protected] or 618-536-3325.