Undergraduate enrollment went down by around 100 students compared to last fall, with an estimated 600 incoming students.
A delayed roll-out in Federal Student Aid influenced this decline, according to President Xavier Cole, keeping students from filling out financial aid forms until May.
“It turned out to be as bad as we thought I’d be,” Cole said at the annual president’s convocation.
Some students couldn’t risk waiting to hear back on their federal aid packages up until mid-summer and had to go elsewhere, Cole said. He said other universities and students across the country have faced the same predicament.
According to Cole, Loyola strives to give everyone the chance to the education they seek, and that this was a detrimental loss.
Despite low undergraduate enrollment, Cole assured the university’s budget is barely balanced due to high graduate enrollment in the law and nursing departments, as well as new grants and contracts, Cole said.
In his speech, Cole emphasized the importance of our Jesuit values and advocated for affordable education for all.
