Each year Loyola welcomes about 850 freshmen, 100 transfer students and 50 readmits, but with applications down by 25 percent after Hurricane Katrina, those numbers are no longer the standard.
Though enrollment is not what it was before the storm – total enrollment is down by between 15 and 17 percent – that doesn’t mean Loyola is doing worse than anticipated. In fact, with 730 new students currently (the official head count won’t be done until Sept. 15) on campus – 555 freshmen, 125 transfers and 50 readmits – the university is over its projection by about 40 students.
Loyola admitted as many students as possible without lowering its standards, Deborah Stieffel, dean of admissions and enrollment management, said. “We’re really pleased with the incoming class.”
Despite the effects of Katrina, Loyola seemed to maintain its traditional appeals in the eyes of most potential freshmen. “When I took a campus tour of Loyola, my tour guide had this remarkable passion for Loyola,” said Chelsea Mansulich, political science freshman. “I saw everything Loyola had to offer, and he could answer all of my questions and then some.”
Of the transfer students, Stieffel said, a number of them previously attended schools that Loyola students attended during their displacements last fall. “I think it’s a real tribute to the institution,” she said.
Transfer students came from all over the country and Central America, with 29 students transferring to Loyola from universities in Louisiana, said Stieffel. Students transferred from Jesuit institutions – such as Saint Louis University and Spring Hill, Stieffel said – and larger state schools, including the University of Alabama to the University of Colorado.
There are 55 students with Louisiana residency who decided to transfer to Loyola this semester. “I was happy to see the number of transfer students from Louisiana coming back,” said Stieffel.
Among the transfers there are also a high number of students who were originally accepted as freshmen, but decided to instead attend other institutions.
Thinking realistically after Katrina
The university and the admissions department had a lot of work ahead of them after the storm. “None of us had ever gone through this before,” said Stieffel.
With this in mind, University President the Rev. Kevin Wildes, S.J. and the admissions office decided to present three scenarios to the Board of Trustees in January: worst, middle and best case scenarios for fall enrollment. The worst-case scenario, Stieffel said, involved a total incoming class of 580, while the middle case was 690 total new students and the best case, just below typical enrollment, fell at 800 students.
“In terms of scenarios, we gave the board three,” said Wildes. “We explained each and made a case to the board for the middle scenario, and the board accepted it.” The middle scenario presented by the university and chosen by the board set a goal of 690 total incoming students for admission this fall.
Wildes said the board made the decision not to lower standards. “That was a long-term disaster, I thought,” he said.
But going about recruiting 690 students to come to school in New Orleans a year after Katrina meant making a lot of adjustments. Admissions had to amend their strategies, Stieffel said. “You adjust and do what you have to do.”
Changing environment calls for adjustments
One of the most obvious steps, considering postal service is still unreliable in most parts of the city, was to utilize an almost completely electronic application system.
On a normal year, admissions receives about 75 percent of all applications electronically, while this year 97 percent of applications were completed online.
Loyola hired an outside company, Stieffel said, to design a Web site that resembled Loyola’s in order to help prospective students research the university and apply online. Two modules were set up: one targeting students and the other for parents.
This program enabled students , for the first time, to use the Internet to access essential documents necessary for enrollment, such as residence hall contracts, immunization forms and the intent to enroll contract.
While recruiting, Loyola struggled to get beyond the national media attention placed on New Orleans.
Because of this, Loyola had to develop new techniques to physically show students, parents and guidance counselors that the university was holding up.
“None of the material was appropriate anymore,” said Stieffel. “We had to reinvent the wheel to let students and parents know what to expect.”
Changes began with the application, which was redesigned to look “more fun” and better represent New Orleans, said Stieffel. Admissions strived to find a balance, she said, between New Orleans as a place to have a good time and Loyola as an institution of higher learning.
In step with being more fun and technologically savvy, admissions created a video to show prospective students that Loyola and New Orleans wererecovering from the storm. In December, the university sent 10,000 CDs to high school seniors throughout the country so they could see firsthand that Loyola was ready and waiting.
Also, nearly 15,000 surveys were sent out nationally to help admissions better design communications with prospective students and tackle any major concerns. Stieffel said it is through these surveys that the university realized that the environment of post-Katrina New Orleans and safety were among the biggest concerns by parents and students.
In the spring, admissions launched the Each One Reach One campaign, which used current students’ recommendations to help recruit prospective freshmen applicants. “It was really helpful to see the new students referred by (Loyola students and faculty) in that campaign,” said Stieffel.
“The constant contact from the admissions department through e-mails really helped in my decision to attend,” said Courtney Downs, music industry freshman. “The interactive program for first-year students created by university was really informative.”
Looking to the future
This month, as it does every August, admissions began their first “push” for next year’s applicants, said Stieffel. Last August, 30,000 packages were sent out with business return envelopes, just before school began. Not one was returned, due to Hurricane Katrina.
“It was difficult to recruit out of state,” said Stieffel of this year. But although there were challenges, Stieffel says that admissions does not plan to concentrate on local recruitment in the future. “We’re going to keep our national focus,” she said.
Generally, Loyola receives about 75 percent of its students from other states. This year, 51 percent of the total incoming class is from outside Louisiana.
But this near 50-50 split does not concern admissions or Wildes.
He says he is happy with the split. He believes it reaffirms the vital role perception of the city plays in admissions. “If perception issues can change,” he said, “and we have a boring hurricane season … we will work our way out.”
For the future, Loyola plans to continue as they always have. “Our future focus is on quality,” said Wildes. “Your community is only as good as you make it, what we make it,” said Stieffel.
Coleen O’Lear can be reached at [email protected].
