After the University of Missouri announced a new recruitment incentive, KXCV-KRNW News shares comments from Northwest Missouri State's provost about the competition for recruiting high school students.
Click the LISTEN button to hear Rose Marie Ward's comments about efforts to recruit high school students to Northwest Missouri State University.
Rose Marie Ward, in comments on KXCV-KRNW's Morning Conversation program, said the northernmost counties of Missouri have had the biggest decline in the number of high school students.
Additionally, between now and 2030, Dr. Ward says the number of high school students will drop another 12 percent.
Currently, Ward says there are 63,000 high school graduates in Missouri. 25 percent of those graduates go get a job and 36 percent attend a four year school. Between now and 2028, Ward says there will be 1,700 fewer high school graduates.
Ward says Northwest is aware of efforts in the state of Iowa to keep their high school graduates in-state as well as offering incentives to out of state students.
The provost says students say they come to Northwest "aren't looking for that huge school. They're looking for that school that still has a football team, that still has sports, that still has clubs."
She also says "I think we have to keep that collegiate experience and keep thinking about how do we keep attracting those students as they're being wooed away to the other schools that are also facing tough enrollments as well."
Northwest has more than 900 high school students taking dual credit classes, which is the second highest number in the last five years. Ward says they are working to roll out next spring, a dual credit A.I. class and are developing medical terminology classes.
The provost also announced a new scholarship for dual enrollment students, offering $1,500 dollars for every year towards tuition if they attend Northwest.
The announcement from the University of Missouri initially targets high school students in Lee's Summit R-7, Liberty, North Kansas City, Columbia, and Farmington. Students in those districts are guaranteed admission if they complete at least 12 college credit hours and have a minimum core grade point average of 3.0 by the end of their junior year.
