Keene State could see another rise in the number of Owls walking around campus at the start of the fall 2024 semester.
Currently, there are around 4,000 potential students who sent their applications to KSC. At this time last year, there were 400 fewer applications, according to MB Lufkin, vice president of enrollment and student engagement. She noted the college is up 10% from the previous year.
“I think we will be ahead of where we were last year … a tricky thing is the FAFSA,” Lufkin said.
Since the recent FAFSA changes, many students have not received their financial aid package yet, something that is a big factor in how potential students make a decision on where they are going to college. However, Lufkin said the good news is every college is in “the same situation.”
The Equinox reported in March 2023 KSC had received $350,000 in funding from the University System of New Hampshire (USNH) Board of Trustees to put towards a new marketing campaign.
The campaign consisted of putting up eight billboards and increasing ads across the internet and social media platforms.
Now, some of the results from that advertising campaign might be taking effect, Lufkin said.
Enrollment at KSC is slightly up from the 2022 to 2023 academic year so far.
For the fall 2023 semester, 728 first-time first-year students enrolled, 19 more students than fall of 2022, according to the 2023 KSC fact book. As for students who transferred into the college whether they be first-time first-year students or transferred from another institution, Lufkin said around 80 students have enrolled. However, she noted those numbers could change as they are not the R+30 numbers, or registration plus 30.
The R+30 number is the way many institutions see the official enrollment number, Lufkin explained. The number is 30 days after the first day of classes because a lot can change as students add and drop. The R+30 number will be known Feb. 14.
Tim Bruns can be contacted at
tbruns@kscequinox.com
