Progress

We set records for Spring 2024 enrollment with a 3% increase over Spring 2023, which included unprecedented growth in doctoral and international enrollment. Recent adjustments to our recruitment strategies, for example, yielded a 43% surge in international student enrollment to 1,030 students for Spring 2024 compared to Spring 2023.

Efforts to ensure that Fall-to-Spring persistence for First-Time in College students hit a record 93.3%, which is a key indicator for our Fall-to-Fall retention goal of at least 80% for Fall 2024. 

Even with the federal government’s delay in releasing FAFSA information, our Fall 2024 enrollment outlook is strong. Compared to where we were last year at this time: 

• Ph.D. applications are up 28% to 427, which represents the highest number of doctoral applications ever and a 66% increase versus Fall 2019 (pre-Covid).  
• Master’s applications are up 6.3% to 2,848 and are currently ahead of pre-Covid levels (+9.5% versus Fall 2019).  
• Freshman applications are up 5.2% to 40,327. 
• Transfer student applications are up 1.2% to 2,581. 
• Attendance at our first Bobcat Day on the San Marcos Campus hit an all-time high (up 9%). 

While early, we are encouraged by these numbers and are optimistic that we will finally top our enrollment record of 38,940 students set in Fall 2016. 

Building on this success, we have several other initiatives to ensure a TXST degree is available to more students than ever before.  

A. Increasing International Enrollment — While our commitment to serving Texas remains steadfast, we are eager to broaden our global impact. In a concerted effort to expand our global footprint, we are: 

• Finalizing contracts with 33 international recruiting agencies that will focus on Asia, Europe, and Africa (we previously only had four partners).  
• Creating partnerships with universities in Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Mexico, and Scotland to offer TXST degrees on their campuses. The model will enable students to receive a double degree – one from the partner university and one from TXST.  
• Collaborating with international universities in Australia, Italy, Costa Rica, New Zealand, and South Korea to establish study abroad hubs, where the host university furnishes essential resources, such as lodging, classroom space, and support services, at an affordable price (our goal is less than $3,500). This summer, we will pilot our first program in Italy. 

B. Increasing Online Enrollment — Considerable headway has been made toward our goal to offer high-quality, affordable, and workforce-relevant degree programs through an online platform. We have signed a contract with a domestic online program management (OPM) company and are exploring a partnership with an international OPM to leverage their technologies and tools to bolster TXST’s capacity to offer online education abroad. The rollout of 45 online degree programs is slated for the next academic year. 

We are also developing plans to offer short semester (“minimester”) courses, providing flexible learning opportunities during the winter and the spring-summer (May) breaks. These courses will be available either online or as study abroad opportunities. The anticipated launch for the Winter session is 2024 and for the May session is 2025. 

C. Entering Regional Markets — Recently, we tapped into the North Texas market by initiating a partnership with Collin College to begin offering TXST degrees on their Allen Technical Campus. This alliance will allow students to be dually admitted to TXST and Collin College as freshmen, and to complete their four-year degree onsite at Collin College (or in San Marcos or Round Rock). TXST courses will be delivered through a blend of online and in-person modalities. We are developing similar partnerships with other community colleges and using market analysis to identify viable degree program options. 

To support TXST’s global aspirations and explore online educational initiatives, President Damphousse created a Vice President for Global. After an extensive national search, Dr. Thilla Sivakumaran joined TXST to lead the new Division of TXST Global. He has set in motion several key initiatives including:  

• Issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for domestic and international online operational management service providers to help market and recruit international and domestic students to online degree programs offered by TXST. 
• Issuing an RFP to add approximately 50 new international recruiting agents.  
• Creating continuing education programming for the Round Rock Campus. 
• Preparing to launch TXST Online in Summer and Fall 2024, which will offer bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs. 

The latest metrics show recent strategies have made an impact:

• Online: Today, we offer nearly 150% more sections online than we did pre-pandemic.  
• International: As of June 2023, undergraduate applications and admits for Fall 2023 are up 520% and 241%, respectively, over last year. Graduate applications and admits are up by 6.6% and 27.6%, respectively. 

This new global emphasis will likely include changing the Office of Distance and Extended Learning to an entrepreneurial enterprise model, conducting a holistic review of the current funding structure for online learning and international affairs, engaging with external partners to market programs to both domestic and international markets, and providing incentives and strategic planning guidelines for degree programs to redesign face-to-face or hybrid programs to be fully online, scalable programs that can be marketed to large student populations.  

Texas State has experienced notable success in implementing the following enrollment initiatives:

• Added a second undergraduate application option (the “Common App”). We have received 16,200+ common applications for Fall 2023, and have seen significant increases in out-of-state and international freshman applications. 
• Optimized our scholarship plan to remain competitive. The number of accepted First Time in College merit awards are up 12.8%. 
• Implemented a new transfer scholarship program. The overall scholarship acceptance rate has increased 11%. 
• Developed new transfer articulation agreements with community colleges and external partnerships with public schools.
• Added additional graduate student recruitment events (e.g., online information sessions, fairs, and outreach to institutions without graduate degree programs). 
• Raised the annual cap TXST pays through international recruiting agencies from $150,000 to $1 million. Costs associated with international student recruitment are recuperated through tuition. 
• Merged marketing and communications units into their own division under the leadership of a new Cabinet-level position, the vice president for marketing and communications, held by Sandy Pantlik.

Recruitment efforts are paying off. The latest available application data indicate we are on track for a record-breaking enrollment this fall. Other successes to celebrate include:  

• For the first time in our history, TXST is first among Texas universities in freshman applications submitted through “Apply Texas” for Fall 2023. 
• Attendance at Bobcat Days, our premier open house event, was the highest ever recorded. Combined, attendance at our four Bobcat Day events for 2022-2023 was 7,085 prospective students, a 42% increase over 2021-2022. 
• “Bring Bobcats Back,” a unique recruitment program for stop-outs, enrolled 143 former Bobcats this summer and 247 are registered for Fall 2023.