While the university’s total enrollment has decreased by about 2.5 percent from 2003 to 2013, total enrollment within colleges has fluctuated greatly.
The Mewbourne College of Earth & Energy, which includes petroleum engineering, geology and geophysics, has experienced a large increase in total enrollment during that time period.
In 2003, the college’s total enrollment was fewer than 200. In 2013 those numbers had jumped to 1,119 — a 470.9 percent increase — according to data from OU Institutional Research and Reporting.
Student enrollment in the earth and energy programs has been increasing since 2006, said Larry Grillot, dean of Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy, in an email. Although petroleum engineering enrollment has increased the most drastically, geology and geophysics enrollments have also increased, Grillot said.
The rise in student enrollment numbers can be attributed to the strong current job market in the oil and gas industry, where many earth and energy students find careers, Grillot said.
“Essentially all of our petroleum engineering graduates and a strong majority of our geology and geophysics graduates have gone to work in the oil and gas business during this period,” Grillot said.
To handle the steady increase of students, the college’s administration has been recruiting new faculty and upgrading facilities, Grillot said. Financial support from alumni and companies, coupled with money from the university, help make these changes possible, Grillot said.
Conversely, enrollment in the College of Architecture has dropped fairly steadily over the past ten years, according to data from Institutional Research and Reporting. In 2003, the college had 742 students enrolled, according to the data.
By 2013, the number had dropped to 385 students. During that ten-year period, enrollment dropped every year except for 2012, when students increased from 420 to 449, according to the data.
External factors have largely caused the decrease in students, said Richard Ryan, associate dean for administration for the College of Architecture. CIn an unstable economy, the public may have perceived architecture as a risky field to enter, Ryan said.
Despite the decline in students, the College of Architecture programs have retained their quality and Ryan is happy with the student to faculty ratio of the programs, he said.
“We’re very proud of what we do in the college,” Ryan said.
Though the College of Architecture, like all colleges, tries to improve its programs year to year, its administration’s primary tactic in recruitment has been spreading the word about the college’s programs, Ryan said.
The college’s administration has been focusing on identifying potential students and sending information about its programs to them, Ryan said. The college has placed ads in high school newspapers, increased its use of social media and sent representatives to attend college fairs, Ryan said.
“It still boils to, you know, locating high school kids,” Ryan said. “We feel like, if we can get them here, we have a really good chance of impressing them enough to make them want to come to our college.”
Time will show the effectiveness of the college’s recruitment efforts, but Ryan hopes to see results soon, he said.
“I definitely think it will be fruitful,” Ryan said. “It’s just like everything else: it takes a couple of years to see the effects.”
Though the college has no formal enrollment goals for next fall, Ryan hopes to see roughly a 3 to 5 percent increase in students, he said.
Here's a look at how other university college's total enrollment has fluctuated:
University college’s with increased enrollment
Academic affairs
Fall 2007: 65
Fall 2013: 994
Percent change: 1,429.2 percent increase
Atmospheric and geographic sciences
Fall 2003: 416
Fall 2013: 433
Percent change: 4.1 percent increase
Mewbourne earth and energy
Fall 2003: 196
Fall 2013: 1,119
Percent change: 470.9 percent increase
Engineering
Fall 2003: 2,104
Fall 2013: 2,450
Percent change: 16.4 percent increase
International studies
Fall 2003: 209
Fall 2013: 389
Percent change: 86.1 percent increase
Liberal studies
Fall 2003: 7
Fall 2013 51
Percent change: 628.6 percent increase
University college
• Pre-health 2-year
Fall 2003 1,268*
Fall 2013: 1,870
• Pre-health 4-year
Fall 2003: 1,268*
Fall 2013: 1,338
• Pre-law
Fall 2011: 132
Fall 2013: 251
University colleges with decreased enrollment:
Architecture
Fall 2003 742
Fall 2013: 385
Percent change: 48.1 percent decrease
Arts and Sciences
Fall 2003: 6,708
Fall 2013: 6,348
Percent change: 5.4 percent decrease
Michael F. Price business
Fall 2003: 3,544
Fall 2013: 3,274
Percent change: 7.6 percent decrease
CCE/Aviation
Fall 2003: 172
Fall 2013: 167
Percent change: 2.9 percent decrease
Jeannine Rainbolt education
Fall 2003: 956
Fall 2013: 695
Percent change: 27.3 percent decrease
Weitzenhoffer family fine arts
Fall 2003: 904
Fall 2013: 791
Percent change: 12.5 percent decrease
Gaylord journalism and mass communication
Fall 2003: 1,268
Fall 2013: 1,141
Percent change: 10.0 percent decrease
Undecided
Fall 2003: 1,428
Fall 2013: 506
Percent change: 64.6 percent decrease
University College’s 2-year and 4-year health programs numbers were combined until fall 2010.
