A look at CSB+SJU enrollment numbers

The 10th day census for CSB+SJU’s fall 2024 enrollment shows a small drop in enrollment but does not raise any high concern for members of CSB+SJU’s staff, as numbers are only down a few students compared to last year.

This fall, 384 new students have enrolled at CSB: 363 first-years and 21 transfers. SJU numbers show 361 new students enrolled this fall: 335 first-years and 26 transfers. Forty-six total transfer students across the campuses makes for the largest transfer population in the last decade. CSB+SJU are looking at a total of 3,001 students, including those enrolled in the graduate programs, on the two campuses.

The effects of Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as FAFSA, did not go unnoticed when looking at enrollment numbers for CSB+SJU. FAFSA usually releases financial aid packages in December for the following school year but did not release packages until April of 2024 for the following school year. Chief Admission and Strategic Enrollment Officer Edward Lamm said the delay in FAFSA had an impact on numbers at CSB+SJU, but it was no different from what other colleges and universities across the United States were seeing. In the past, financial aid packages would be sent in December when the FAFSA numbers would come in. The delay pushed those packets to be sent out in April, which gave students less time to consider the financial aspect of attending a college or university.

“That five-, six-month window that they would normally have really became a number of weeks. And so, colleges across the country moved the national deposit deadline or their institutional deposit deadline from May 1 to June 1,” Lamm said. “It just gave a few more weeks to an extra month for students to make the decision, so there was some late movement in students deciding. It came down to students asking themselves if they can afford college.”

Another new financial aid program called the North Star Promise was introduced in 2023 to begin serving families for the 2024-2025 school year. It uses FAFSA or Minnesota Dream Act applications to determine who is eligible. To be eligible for this program, your family must have an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) below $80,000. The program covers college tuition and fees but does not include room and board, books, supplies, transportation, or food.

Director of Strategic Analytics & Financial Strategy Ben Stommes said it is hard to tell how much effect this new program had on enrollment rates at CSB+SJU this fall, as that program is only available for public or tribal institutions across Minnesota. It is difficult to judge whether students chose a public institution over CSB+SJU due to this program.

“The Minnesota Private College Council is advocating for something similar to the North Star Promise for private colleges,” Stommes said. “This will help keep students from being in an uncomfortable spot if they want to attend CSB+SJU but are receiving generous financial aid from the North Star Program.”

CSB+SJU are brainstorming how to bring more students to these campuses.

“Basically, we need more students earlier in the process. We need high school students to come and visit as early as their sophomore and junior year. [We need to] get them to love this place as much as you love this place and we all love this place,” Lamm said. “I’ve been working a lot with our Chief Marketing Officer and her team, and I think with the admission staff that we have here and working with her team, we’re going to be in a really, really good spot.”

Lamm has just started here at CSB+SJU. He most recently served as the Vice President of Enrollment Management and Communications at St. Norbert College.

“I am so energized about the opportunities here, this is such a great place,” Lamm said. “These are beautiful campuses. The students, parents, and visitors walking on campus all throughout the day is amazing to see. It has been great to be here so far.”