Bowling Green State University officials have said for months they expected enrollment this fall to
decline and late Wednesday released figures confirming their predictions.
Total head count fell 2.3 percent to 19,768, compared to 20,228 a year ago.
The Firelands campus at Huron reports enrollment of 2,416, a 2.6 percent increase from 2,354 a year ago.

At the same time, BGSU spokesperson Dave Kielmeyer said full-time equivalent enrollment is up one-half
percent. "That tells us that although we have fewer students, they are taking larger class loads.
That will help get them out quicker and on time. That’s good news for us because that’s one of things
that helps keep the state officials happy."
He said another high point is that fall-to-fall retention is up 1.3 percent. That means 74.6 percent of
those students who started as freshman in the fall of 2008 returned as sophomores, compared to a 73.3
percent retention rate for freshmen who started in the fall of 2007.
Also, the incoming class of freshmen and transfer students is relatively flat compared with 2008, with
similar high school grade point average and modestly higher ACT score compared with fall 2008.
During a retreat and special meeting last month at Atwood Lake, BGSU trustees heard an extensive report
from Albert Colom, vice president for enrollment management.
Colom outlined ways the university is changing its approach to recruitment. He said BGSU will target more
non-traditional students, will engage more high school students and work to generate more interest.
Colom said BGSU will seek students who have a "better fit" with BGSU, which should offer a
better chance of their college success.
He told trustees there were already 260 undergraduate applications for the fall of 2010, compared to 95
at the same time in 2008 for the fall of 2009.
Colom said admissions staffers will be working in all 88 Ohio counties, whereas they had worked in 66
counties in the past. "We will not concede a single corner of the state," Colom said. He said
BGSU will recruit at more than twice as many community colleges and participate in many more college
fairs around the Midwest.