University of Wyoming

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

The COVID pandemic is largely to blame for a 3% decline in the University of Wyoming’s enrollment in the last year, a UW spokesman told Cowboy State Daily.

According to census data collected on the 15th day of classes, UW has enrolled a total of 11,479 students this semester, down 3% from the overall enrollment of 11,829 last fall. The 15th class day is used because it falls after the class drop/add deadlines, and after the first tuition and fee payment is due.

University spokesman Chad Baldwin said that there were various reasons for students leaving the university, but all of them were related to the pandemic in some way.

“Regarding the overall enrollment decline, we know that we lost hundreds of students last year because so many classes were taught online due to COVID-19 and because of the campus pandemic restrictions, not to mention the financial difficulties the pandemic caused for students and their families,” he told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday. “We’re working to re-recruit as many of them as possible, but research shows that once students pull out of college, a good number of them don’t return.”

The drop in nonresident students has been most pronounced, with a total of 3,644 students from out-of-state attending UW this fall, compared to 3,844 last fall.

There are 568 first-time nonresident students in this year’s class, down 6.7% from last fall’s 609.

During the 2020-21 school year, the university had limited in-person classes and events due to the pandemic. This year, the university board of trustees has implemented and indefinitely extended a mask mandate for anyone on campus.

The university has not implemented a vaccine mandate for either employees or students, but have created an incentive program for those who are vaccinated and also report it.

The university reported this week that the number of first-time students from Wyoming attending the university has grown by 11.5% this fall, contributing to an overall 3.7% increase in UW’s first-time student enrollment.

Some 909 students from Wyoming have enrolled in the state’s university for the first time, up from 815 the year before and topping the pre-pandemic number of 902 in fall 2019. As a result, the total number of first-time students this semester has grown to 1,477 from 1,424 last year.

“Our favorable in-state, first-time numbers are a reflection of intensive recruitment efforts and a return to a traditional fall semester with fewer pandemic restrictions, among other things,” Baldwin told Cowboy State Daily on Thursday.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

The University of Wyoming saw a 3% drop in enrollment for the 2021 fall semester, the university announced this week.

According to census data collected on the 15th day of classes, UW announced Monday it has enrolled a total of 11,479 students this semester, down 3% from the overall enrollment of 11,829 last fall. The 15th class day is used because it falls after the class drop/add deadlines, and after the first tuition and fee payment is due.

However, the university also noted the number of first-time students from Wyoming attending the university has grown by 11.5% this fall, contributing to an overall 3.7% increase in UW’s first-time student enrollment.

Some 909 students from Wyoming have enrolled in the state’s university for the first time, up from 815 the year before and topping the pre-pandemic number of 902 in fall 2019. As a result, the total number of first-time students this semester has grown to 1,477 from 1,424 last year.

“We’re excited that our class of new freshmen, particularly those from Wyoming, has increased. It’s a sign that we are on our way to recovering from the losses incurred by higher education institutions nationwide,” UW Vice Provost for Enrollment Management Kyle Moore said. “After we enrolled the two largest freshman classes in UW’s history in 2018 and 2019, the financial and other uncertainties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been impactful and significant. We’re working hard to rebound as quickly as possible.”

The drop in nonresident students has been most pronounced, with a total of 3,644 students from out-of-state attending UW this fall, compared to 3,844 last fall.

There are 568 first-time nonresident students in this year’s class, down 6.7% from last fall’s 609.

At the same time, the number of nonresident transfer students enrolling this fall rose to 251 from 223 last year, a 12.6% increase.

“Across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused many students to stay closer to home to start their college experience. It also has resulted in large decreases in community college enrollments in Wyoming and nationwide, which impacts transfer numbers,” Moore said. “The pandemic seriously hampered our ability last year to do face-to-face recruiting out of state and bring nonresidents in for campus visits, and that is reflected in our current numbers. We’re redoubling our efforts to recruit students from outside the state while still making recruitment of Wyoming students our No. 1 priority.”

There was also a 4.9% increase in graduate and professional students, rising from 2,610 from 2,487 last year. Moore credited collaborative marketing and recruitment efforts with academic departments as factors in the increase.

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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

The University of Wyoming’s endowment is worth almost $800 million, an extraordinary amount for a college its size, President Ed Seidel said earlier this week.

Seidel, speaking during his “State of the University” speech on Wednesday, said the endowment, or value of the university’s investments based on donated money and financial assets, totaled $794.7 million.

The university saw almost $50 million in private donations last year alone, Seidel said.

In a wide-ranging address that also touched on coronavirus and the budget cuts faced by the university, Seidel said the university reduced its spending by more than $13 million per year by eliminating 75 positions and multiple programs at the school.

The changes will allow the university to better support its students and generate new revenue streams, Seidel said.

Programs not discontinued or reorganized will still see their budgets cut by 3%, he said.

He added the university will save another $18 million over the next 20 years by refinancing its outstanding debt.

“There are lots of things behind the scenes that are helping us save as much funding as we can,” Seidel said.

The long-term spending reductions are in addition to $42.3 million in cuts made when Gov. Mark Gordon ordered state spending cuts in the fact of dramatic downturns in the state’s mineral income.

Turning to coronavirus, Seidel said vaccination rates have steadily increased on campus, with around two-thirds of the student population having self-reported that they are vaccinated against COVID-19.

“We’ve got some more work to do there, but we’ve done relatively well,” he said.

As of Thursday, there were a number of active COVID cases among the UW population: eight employees, 14 on-campus students and 43 off-campus students, according to the university’s COVID dashboard.

The university was the first educational facility that implemented a mask mandate, with students being required to wear masks while on campus until mid-September.

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By Bill Sniffin, publisher

The University of Wyoming and the state’s community colleges are partnering to help improve the state’s economy, UW President Ed Seidel said earlier this week.

Seidel, speaking in Riverton on Monday during the first of the university’s presentations on “The World Needs More Cowboys — And So Does Wyoming,” said by working together, the university and the state’s colleges can promote entrepreneurship.

“We are working with the community colleges to build the state’s economy,” he said. “We are building partnerships with the community colleges and aligning all forms of higher education. We are promoting entrepreneurship and statewide cooperation,”

Seidel cited the efforts of Central Wyoming College and its president, Brad Tyndall, to work with the university.

CWC hosted the event at the InterTribal Center on the campus.

Several current and former students spoke about the ease with which they could complete their first two years of college at CWC and transition smoothly to the UW. 

Seidel also pointed to the new School of Computing that is starting at UW that will also involve the community colleges. 

Meanwhile, he said COVID continues to be a problem at the university.

“We are prepared to do what is necessary,” he said.

He recalled some of the problems during last year’s school year with the university being open and closed.  He was proud of the fact that the UW was able to have an “in-person” graduation.  

“It meant a lot to everybody,” he said. 

Seidel also said he was happy to be the new president of UW, a position he was appointed to in March 2020. 

“I had waited until I was 63 years old to finally get the job I wanted where I wanted,” he said.

He added, however, that being greeted by a COVID pandemic and a $50 million budget shortfall were challenges. 

He invited everyone to come visit the campus to see what all is happening.  “It is a very exciting time,” he concluded.

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