FAMU’s fall enrollment nosedives down to a projected 9,500

According to a projection announced by President Elmira Mangum earlier this week, FAMU has approximately 9,500 students enrolled for Fall 2014. If that turns out to be the final number, it will represent a drop of 1,234 students from one year ago. The university enrolled 10,734 students in Fall 2013.

In an address before the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, Mangum noted that this represents a challenge for not only FAMU, but the entire city’s economy.

“This means that 3,500 fewer students need apartments in Tallahassee, 3,500 fewer students will need to open bank accounts. They won’t buy clothes. They won’t buy groceries,” Mangum said in a quote published by the Tallahassee Democrat.

FAMU’s  enrollment increased between the fiscal years that ended in 2009 and 2011. But FAMU and many other historically black colleges and universities were hurt by stricter eligibility requirements for the federal PLUS Loan program that went into effect in October of 2011 and Pell Grant changes that began that same year.

The PLUS Loan and Pell Grant changes resulted in thousands of low-income HBCU students being denied this critical source of financial aid and either having to withdraw from school or delay their entry into college.

Mangum said the federal financial aid program overhaul led FAMU to lose about 2,000 students.

Declining state support and rising fees have made the situation even worse for many potential FAMU students. Mangum explained that FAMU’s funding from the Florida Legislature has dropped 28 percent since 2008 while student fees have shot up by 65 percent.