The University class of 2009 needed a grade point average of only 2.8 to become an LSU Tiger.This fall’s freshman class was required to have a 3.0 GPA to be admitted.Mary Parker, executive director of undergraduate admissions, said the stricter requirement is a strong factor in the decrease of undergraduates at the University.Since 1998, the University had its highest number of undergraduates in 2002 with 26,672 students.Since then, the University had an average decrease of about 500 undergraduate students per year.Astrid Merget, provost and executive vice chancellor, said Aug. 27 that one reason for the decrease is the changing demographics.”The college-age high school students in this state has shrunk,” Merget said. “It’s just absolutely declined in number as a proportion of the population.”Parker said if the number of in-state high school graduates has indeed dropped, the University’s enrollment would suffer since  about 80 percent of applicants are Louisiana graduates.Chancellor Michael Martin said the University needs to invest in improving its academic curriculum.”At the end of the day, it’s what they leave here with that matters,” Martin said.Parker said the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and Student Aid is working to improve existing recruiting techniques and creating new programs geared toward outreach.”We are agressively increasing our communication strategies and are experiencing the benefits of our increased efforts,” Parker said. “Due to these efforts, we anticipate an increase in our freshman enrollment this fall.”Depsite the average decrease in undergraduate enrollment during the past six years, the difference between the falls of 2007 and 2008 was three students. The University enrolled 23,397 undergraduate students in the fall 2007, and 23,400 enrolled for the fall 2008.”We have to continue on differentiating ourselves from all others in the pack because we are a different university,” Martin said.He said the University is the state’s flagship institution and it needs that distinction.”This is also a research university,” Martin said. “When you’re taking a class, you’re likely to be taking a class from a professor that actually discovered the knowledge he’s teaching.”Martin said to continue increasing undergraduate enrollment, the University needs to work harder on recruiting non-residents.Merget said the University has become more agressive in recruiting out-of-state students instead of “just letting it happen.”Parker said recruiting and retaining out-of-state students has always been a mission of the admissions office, but they have increased efforts to help support the University’s Flagship Agenda.
 
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Contact J.J. Alcantara at [email protected]