By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Missouri Western State University is attempting to buck the trend in college education and increase enrollment on the St. Joseph campus.
Missouri Western President, Elizabeth Kennedy, says higher education across the country faces what has been called “the demographic cliff.”
“There’s just fewer high school students, fewer children in families, so just shrinking the number of high school students who would be eligible for college,” Kennedy explains, adding Missouri Western has been affected by Buchanan County’s drop in population.
“We know that over the last 10 years or so there’s been about a decline of about 5,000 individuals leaving, which then impacts, well, how many students do you have in the public schools and the other schools in St. Joseph and Buchanan County, which then means that you have a smaller population,” Kennedy says.
Kennedy says the university also has to fight the perception that a college education isn’t needed. She insists a college degree will lead to better paying occupations and create a well-educated citizenry.
Kennedy says by the time the numbers have been finalized, the university should have 10 more students on its St. Joseph campus than last year. It’s not much, but it is significant.
“The last time the university had a fall-to-fall increase in enrollment was 2017 to 2018,” according to Kennedy, who says any kind of rise in enrollment is a big deal.
“If you go back all the way to 2011 until this year, the university has only had five fall-to-fall increases in enrollment,” Kennedy says. “From 2011 to 2025, five increases fall-to-fall.”
Missouri Western had more than 3,700 students on the St. Joseph campus last year.
Missouri Western has broadened its education offerings the past few years. Kennedy says the university hopes to provide the college education desired by high school graduates, but also the training adults need for a shifting job market.
“We have put so much effort into the university to realigning our programs to meet that really sweet spot of student demand and workforce needs,” Kennedy says. “And that’s where higher education is moving towards in the future.”
Kennedy says Missouri Western has about as many students between the ages of 25 and 54 as it does 18 and 19-year-olds.
Kennedy says the goal of the university is to be relevant, available, and accessible.
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