Record Enrollment but Freshman Rention Rate Declines

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Is Herman even an alum?

He has been directly asked that question on multiple occasions and has ignored it.  It's safe to assume that he is not.

He's answered. He is not an alum. Though 4ever is correct,  that doesn't make his opinion better or worse. That being said, I disagree with him here

[GGGG]

He's answered. He is not an alum. Though 4ever is correct,  that doesn't make his opinion better or worse. That being said, I disagree with him here

I would say that not being an alum means that you may not have as deep appreciation of the mission of the institution.

[Disco Hippie]

I've been as critical of MU's extremely unconventional enrollment strategy as anyone the past couple of years, but since US News de-emphasized acceptance rates, MU's ranking thankfully didn't decline and actually went up a point.   

Look, I'm supportive of MU's diversity efforts and applaud their efforts to make higher education more accessible to first generation college students but they've prioritized this "mission" above all else to the point where MU seems more interested in being a social service organization than a university.  That's what irks me.

Again I think they should continue to do everything they're doing in that vein, but the extent to which they wear the "mission" on their sleeve is not only annoying but arguably disingenuous.  While shrouded in the veil of altruism, MU's end game is to receive Title V funds from the feds, which they'll be eligible to apply for if they achieve their goal of becoming a "Hispanic Serving Institution".   Again, nothing wrong with that and I'm not saying that's their sole motivation but just want to keep them honest. 

As for Herman Cain's comments, it's not realistic for MU to follow the path he suggests and although I found much of what he said to be mean spirited and insensitive, his POV absolutely reflects the northeastern sensibility.  US News may have de-emphasized acceptance rates but students and their parents in Herman and my neck of the woods have not and aren't going to anytime soon. 

MU's policy is repelling instead of encouraging exactly the types of students they claim to want to enroll more of from even applying and that's a shame.  I thought MU wanted to diversify the geographic footprint from which their undergraduate students come from but instead they're going out of their way to make themselves as unattractive as possible to prospective students from this region.

I know most of you don't care because you don't live here, but I do, and because people with attitudes like Herman's are pervasive here, recruiting kids to MU has become very difficult in recent years and an uphill battle that's frustrating as hell.  That was not the case 5 years ago.

Edit: paragraph breaks

[ZiggysFryBoy]

I've been as critical of MU's extremely unconventional enrollment strategy as anyone the past couple of years, but since US News de-emphasized acceptance rates, MU's ranking thankfully didn't decline and actually went up a point.   Look, I'm supportive of MU's diversity efforts and applaud their efforts to make higher education more accessible to first generation college students but they've prioritized this "mission" above all else to the point where MU seems more interested in being a social service organization than a university.  That's what irks me.  Again I think they should continue to do everything they're doing in that vein, but the extent to which they wear the "mission" on their sleeve is not only annoying but arguably disingenuous.  While shrouded in the veil of altruism, MU's end game is to receive Title V funds from the feds, which they'll be eligible to apply for if they achieve their goal of becoming a "Hispanic Serving Institution".   Again, nothing wrong with that and I'm not saying that's their sole motivation but just want to keep them honest.  As for Herman Cain's comments, it's not realistic for MU to follow the path he suggests and although I found much of what he said to be mean spirited and insensitive, his POV absolutely reflects the northeastern sensibility.  US News may have de-emphasized acceptance rates but students and their parents in Herman and my neck of the woods have not and aren't going to anytime soon.  MU's policy is repelling instead of encouraging exactly the types of students they claim to want to enroll more of from even applying and that's a shame.  I thought MU wanted to diversify the geographic footprint from which their undergraduate students come from but instead they're going out of their way to make themselves as unattractive as possible to prospective students from this region.  I know most of you don't care because you don't live here, but I do, and because people with attitudes like Herman's are pervasive here, recruiting kids to MU has become very difficult in recent years and an uphill battle that's frustrating as hell.  That was not the case 5 years ago.

Maybe it's people like you and Herman, with the "too high of an acceptance rate, so my precious kid ain't going there" attitude is not the student body that MU wants.  Personally, I'd be ok if there were no New Yorker/New Englander students at MU, from my experience, they are a bunch of d-bags and Massholes (including my former Masshole roommate, who I am still friends with today, mainly for the laugh factor at his Brahmin attitude.)

[warriorchick]

Maybe it's people like you and Herman, with the "too high of an acceptance rate, so my precious kid ain't going there" attitude is not the student body that MU wants.  Personally, I'd be ok if there were no New Yorker/New Englander students at MU, from my experience, they are a bunch of d-bags and Mpretty boys (including my former Mpretty boy roommate, who I am still friends with today, mainly for the laugh factor at his Brahmin attitude.)

This.

If "d-bags and entitled a-holes as a percentage of enrolled students" were a USNWR metric, all of those schools you think are so great wouldn't be faring so well.

[GGGG]

I've been as critical of MU's extremely unconventional enrollment strategy as anyone the past couple of years, but since US News de-emphasized acceptance rates, MU's ranking thankfully didn't decline and actually went up a point.   

Look, I'm supportive of MU's diversity efforts and applaud their efforts to make higher education more accessible to first generation college students but they've prioritized this "mission" above all else to the point where MU seems more interested in being a social service organization than a university.  That's what irks me. i

Just because they accept a more diverse student body doesn't make them a "social service organization."  And no university, including those on your precious east coast, merely look at a handful of objective criteria to determine who to enroll.  Diversity of all sorts is a virtue.  Employers want employees who can function in that environment, so Marquette is attempting to provide it.

And if that prevents people from your neck of the wood from going there, well that's fine.  There are plenty of places that would be better fits and plenty of students who want a Marquette experience.

[4everwarriors]

Marquette fills their niche well. Its not ND, Georgetown, or BC, but competes on even ground with Loyola, Creighton, Dayton, and the like.

[GGGG]

Marquette fills their niche well. Its not ND, Georgetown, or BC, but competes on even ground with Loyola, Creighton, Dayton, and the like.

Exactly.  That's what Marquette is.  And it wants to excel within that niche.  Not become something it isn't.

[vogue65]

I live part time in Italy, the country that invented the religion, Catholicism.

Italy practices homogenous grouping (HG), big time.

Catholic secondary education in America also practices homogenous grouping.

I love the Jesuits on many levels, but they practice HG big time.

Where are minority students grouped in Catholic secondary schools?

Oh, to bring this full circle, where does MU do the majority of its recruiting?

Answers:

1.  Minority students are mostly grouped in the lower groups.
2.  MU recruits mainly in Catholic secondary schools.

[Galway Eagle]

I live part time in Italy, the country that invented the religion, Catholicism.

Italy practices homogenous grouping (HG), big time.

Catholic secondary education in America also practices homogenous grouping.

I love the Jesuits on many levels, but they practice HG big time.

Where are minority students grouped in Catholic secondary schools?

Oh, to bring this full circle, where does MU do the majority of its recruiting?

Answers:

1.  Minority students are mostly grouped in the lower groups.
2.  MU recruits mainly in Catholic secondary schools.

Didn't Israel invent Catholicism?

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

Didn't Israel invent Catholicism?

Right. Italy just took it mainstream.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

ACT and SAT score compared to previous times is not really a good measure as those scores have been inflated, especially the SAT.  I don't remember my SAT score (I didn't go to an Ivy so it isn't on my resume to constantly remind me) but I've read that one who took the test more than 15 years ago should add 200 points to their score to get an equivalent score today.  And, of course, we know grade inflation is rampant today, especially at the stronger private schools.

According to this, there has only been a relatively small increase in SAT scores in the last 3-plus decades.

https://blog.prepscholar.com/average-sat-scores-over-time