U. grad school applications up

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 1, 2003 by Twila Van Leer Deseret Morning News

Applications to University of Utah graduate school programs rose by 12 percent between the 2001 and 2002 academic years, at the same time that the U. is taking steps to control enrollment.

It's one of the quirks of a bad economy. People faced with a tight job market tend to seek additional education to facilitate a career change or to make themselves more attractive to employers. U. applications for graduate programs in 2000-01 totaled 5,137, compared with 5,768 for the 2001-02 academic year.

"On average, we only accept a third of the applicants to our graduate programs. Now we are turning more people away," said David S. Chapman, graduate school dean.

For the U. graduate programs, the increased demand is a mixed bag, Chapman said. Though the university would be unwise to increase programs to meet what is likely to be a short-term need, he said, the growth in applicants allows the schools to be more choosy.

"We don't gear up for passing fads, but we try to use the opportunity to improve the quality of programs," said Chapman. Several of the Utah graduate school programs have national ranking.

Last winter, U. officials announced a "freeze" on enrollment at all college levels, including graduate programs. The objective is to keep enrollment at the same level it was last year, university officials say. After several years of extremely tight budgets, including damaging cuts, the school is trying to neutralize the financial effect. Enrollment growth has outstripped the funding provided by the Legislature for several years.

Utah has had a long-term growth trend in higher education, so it is possible more students will be turned away from the U. this year. Other schools in the

Utah System of Higher Education have not proposed enrollment caps. The effect of the freeze won't be apparent until registration closes at the end of the summer.

"At the graduate level, it's somewhat a soft freeze," Chapman said. "I told my department heads if they took 25 students last year, they should limit enrollment to that for this year, or at least be reasonable about any increases." The U. offers master's or doctoral degrees in more than 90 areas.

Practical limitations such as availability of classroom and lab space and faculty prevent the U. from expanding to meet the ebb and flow of economic cycles, Chapman said. In addition, accrediting standards are firm about student-instructor ratios in the graduate programs, he said. Some of the professional programs, such as law and medicine, have historically limited enrollment.

The disciplines that saw the most increase in demand from 2001 to 2002 included engineering (up by 456), business (up by 106, mostly for master's degrees), humanities (up by 77) and social and behavioral sciences (up by 78).

The steep rise in engineering applications likely is related to Gov. Mike Leavitt's Engineering and Technology Initiative, Chapman said. The state has put several million dollars into beefing up engineering and computer science programs to increase the number of graduates at all levels. Creating new faculty to serve the undergraduate program is one of the challenges of the expansion.

Other graduate programs saw either little change or slight decreases in applications. The College of Science saw only a little decline, from 302 to 285, but it is indicative of a worrisome national trend, Chapman said. "Students are moving out of science into other disciplines. The National Science Foundation is very concerned." The foundation and other science programs are grooming students beginning in kindergarten to try to reverse the trend, he said.

Graduate education is an international enterprise and the U. competes for the best students from around the world, Chapman said. Enrollment represents students from all 29 of Utah's counties, all 50 states and 102 foreign countries. The 1,560-plus international students represent about a fourth of those in graduate programs, a "source of great diversity. They bring a terrific variety of educational experiences to our campus. They're one of our strengths."

Although U. administrators try to consider state needs as they plan advanced studies, it's an accepted fact that the majority of the graduate students will leave for other locations. But many stay and contribute to the vitality and economic viability of the state.

E-MAIL: tvanleer@desnews.com