The halls are a little emptier as students return to class today. According to a Flagship Committee report, the freshman applicant pool decreased about 4 percent with almost 200 fewer students admitted than in fall 2005. About 73 percent of this year’s 9,626 applicants were admitted; however, the projected freshman class size this year is 4,400 to 4,500 students, a 2 percent decrease from the 2005 class. The committee said this change can be attributed to one main factor – out-of-state enrollment. The out-of-state enrollment only represents about 18 percent of the student body population. James McCoy, vice president for enrollment management, says Hurricane Katrina impacted some students’ decision not to attend the University this fall. “I think the image of Louisiana is New Orleans. Outside of those who actually live in Louisiana, people do not understand that New Orleans does not represent the entire state,” McCoy said. McCoy also said parents and students might have concerns about safety that deterred them from attending a university in a state some deem unsafe. “It could be that the recruiting messages did not override the residual affect of Katrina,” he said. Biology freshman Paula Farris is one out-of-state student who did not let Hurricane Katrina discourage her from attending LSU. “At first I had some concerns,” Farris said. “But when I came to the Spring Invitational, we were told that [hurricane season] was hardly going to affect us.”
She said any fears she previously had were eased once she visited the campus. In an Aug. 17 Board of Supervisors committee meeting, Chancellor Sean O’Keefe said the influx of students from New Orleans institutions did affect last year’s enrollment rate, but 85 percent of those students returned to their home institutions in spring 2006. “Some students were permanent transfers, but it was not a significant amount to affect enrollment for this semester,” he said. O’Keefe also said while the number of students who chose to come to the University has decreased, the quality of the students admitted makes up for the loss. Last year the University raised its admission standards in a move to make the campus more selective. “Academic quality, test scores and percentage of minorities have all increased over the last year,” O’Keefe said. “The increased quality of the incoming freshmen is showing the progression of the goals of the University and the Flagship Agenda.” McCoy said he is looking forward to the progress the University hopes to achieve in the semesters to come and stepping out of the negative shadow Hurricane Katrina has cast upon southeast Louisiana. “We have a lot of work to do,” McCoy said. “We hope the image of Katrina will soon fade away.”
—–Contact Garesia Randle at [email protected]