At this critical time when high school seniors are making their college plans, Baker University is hoping to draw higher fall enrollment numbers than in previous years.
Director of Admission Daniel McKinney said it’s too early to tell what the numbers might look like for fall because students are still deciding about college.
“No two students choose Baker for the same reason,” McKinney said. “I think, across the board, students choose Baker because they have made a connection that causes them to think they will be successful here.”
The freshman retention rate is another number the admission office is hoping will be higher in the fall.
Assistant Dean of Institutional Effectiveness Judy Smrha said the retention rate for this year is 77.8 percent, which means 186 of the 239 freshmen returned this year as sophomores. Smrha said some students’ decisions to leave Baker are not always because of negative feelings about the university.
“The institution can help the retention rate by bringing students in that have a high likelihood of staying but also helping those students that have found that their college experience isn’t exactly going as planned and help them find other reasons to stay,” Smrha said.
Vice President of Enrollment Management Louise Cummings-Simmons said hearing why students choose to leave Baker could help with retention and recruitment of other students.
“If we had a program to sit down with students who want to leave, then maybe we could better understand why they didn’t connect with us,” Cummings-Simmons said.
Freshman Jeff Neneman has made the decision to not return to Baker next semester and will instead attend Benedictine College in Atchison. He said he chose to attend Baker because of pressure from his parents and because of the small size.
“I am drawn to Benedictine because of matters of faith, and they will be more flexible with some of my goals,” Neneman said. “Baker could have offered more opportunities for community service. The first couple of weeks were full of projects, and then it just died off.”
Freshman Samantha McCale said she’s made a very good connection with Baker’s small campus.
“I would recommend Baker to high-schoolers looking for a college,” McCale said. “Baker has a good teacher-to-student ratio, and everyone is really nice.”
Though Cummings-Simmons echoed that it is too early at this time to estimate how many freshmen might enroll next year, she said applications and advanced deposits are up.
A combination of factors like an outstanding student development office and many activities both inside and outside of class contribute to recruiting freshmen, she said.
“When meeting with prospective students, we talk about the outstanding educational value Baker has,” Cumming-Simmons said. “We are academically challenging, and the classroom experience with professors that know you by your first name helps recruit and retain students.”