Schulz: Fewer students a good thing

Washington State University President Kirk Schulz said freshman enrollment for the coming fall is expected to be lower than last year — and that’s a good thing.

Schulz made the comment in a State of the University address during a luncheon hosted by the Pullman Chamber of Commerce Tuesday, saying at more than 4,500 students, the fall of 2018’s freshman class was the largest school history. He said expectation for freshman enrollment numbers in the coming fall is between 4,200 and 4,300.

“Last year truly did stress the system out. We took a residence hall that hadn’t been used and basically got it from dysfunctional to functional by the time our students moved in,” Schulz said. “It was great to see all those Cougs come in, but really, that’s probably larger than we can accommodate in a quality fashion.”

Schulz went on to praise ongoing efforts at WSU to further diversify incoming student classes, emphasising that it is important this diversity is not only reflected in the student body but in the staff and faculty as well. He said about 30 percent of students in every class in the university system are the first generation in their family to attend college and about 10 percent attend WSU through the school’s global campus.

“We have to sometimes remember that when we talk about serving the students of today, it’s not just 18- to 22-year-olds that are coming for a residential experience in Pullman,” Schulz said. “It is that, plus the 45-year-old person from Atlanta, Ga., that was in this region for some period of time, had some credits and decided, ‘hey, I’m going to finish my degree program at WSU through the global campus.’ ”

When asked about the status of WSU’s more than $60 million athletics deficit, he said progress has been made in the last three years, particularly in reducing the annual operating deficit from $13 million to $7 million a year, but there is still much to be done before the full amount is retired.

The athletics budget is expected to be balanced by 2022 and once that is done, Schulz said WSU must exert appropriate fiscal control over how it pays down remaining balances without overspending its yearly budget.

“We have three steps — first, we have to have athletics balanced; second, they need to accumulate appropriate reserves,” Schulz said. “Third, we’ve got to work on not just hoping the deficit goes down over time and actually having a clear payment plan.”

Scott Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.