Nationwide as the number of high-school graduates continue to rise (in total numbers), many U.S. colleges are seeing an increase in the number of applicants and are becoming more selective. In Florida, the increased number of high school graduates has created a capacity problem at state universities, so much so, that the Board of Governors hopes to ease the problem by allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees. However, overcapacity doesn't seem to be the case at FAMU where in recent years our enrollment has continued to decline.
Kelle Edmonds, Assistant Director, Public Affairs at the American Council on Education, shares that "between 2000-2012 the number of high school graduates is expected to increase by 11%." It's not just the sheer number of applicants that are making schools competitive, but admissions officers are seeing a large numbers of highly qualified students.
Admissions offices at Howard, Hampton, North Carolina Central, and (gasp) Bethune are bracing themselves for larger than usual freshman classes this fall, while FAMU is being knocked by MSNBC & the Tampa Bay Business Journal as one of the most over built schools in the SUS. The MSNBC/TBBJ reports that, "Florida A&M University receives enough funding to meet 100 percent of its overall space needs, board data show. Current and proposed facilities would give FAMU 131 percent of the teaching lab space needed." See: FAMU over built
To borrrow a phrase from an old movie, "Houston! We have a problem."
The hand writing is on the wall.
ReplyDeleteWake the f--k up.
It's gotten to a point a which I'm almost afraid to read the newspaper each day. Castell Bryant's decision to shut down the recruitment program is slowly suffocating us. More and more, it seems like FAMU is a half-dead body slowly perishing in the desert. And now, the vultures are starting to gather, ready to pick our bones clean for their own nutrition.
ReplyDeleteWith our lack of recruitment, do we still have any engineering students in the FAMU/FSU College of Engineering? I remember for a time FSU was concerned that the College was too Black.
ReplyDelete