The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Huntington News

NU looks beyond New England in recruitment

By Bessie King

As application season draws near for the incoming class of 2011, Northeastern recruiters are charged with reaching beyond New England, and attempting to draw students from other regions of the country and the world.

The number of graduating seniors in New England is expected to drop next year, posing a recruiting challenge for area colleges. With fewer students to choose from and more competition for every student, colleges are being forced to get creative.

“We’ve known about the changing population for seven to eight years now,” said Dean of Admissions Ronne Turner. “People have predicted this shift, and even when I was hired [five years ago] one of my charges was to institute a national recruiting plan.”

The shift is due to several factors, including the decline of baby-boomer children, lack of population growth and lower college attendance, according to the spring 2005 edition of “Connection: The Journal of the New England Board of Higher Education.” The journal reports New England’s high school graduating classes will grow gradually until 2009 and then decline steadily. The total number of students graduating from New England high schools is expected to decline by 7 percent, or almost 11,000 students, between now and 2018. Knowing there will be fewer local applicants has private colleges seeking out future students from elsewhere around the country.

Tactics include having recruiters stationed on the West Coast, in the Midwest and in the South. Northeastern has recruiting professionals in major cities and states like Seattle, St. Louis, Chicago, Texas, California, Colorado and Ohio, among others, Turner said.

Northeastern is also encouraging guidance counselors to be familiar with the universities trying to recruit students from their state.

The university is reaching out to prospective students directly as well. Out-of-state recruiters set up information sessions and forums, encouraging students to travel and attend an open house or tour at Northeastern. Efforts have reached beyond the United States as well.

After September 11 the university suffered a drop in international student enrollment and now has a 3 percent international student rate, Turner said. She said Northeastern hopes to bring that number to 5 or 7 percent over the coming years.

“Students from other countries have a lot more choices, so we need to be even more competitive and prepared,” Turner said. “We have students from every region of the country, even if it is in small numbers, and we want to have more students from other places to be more diverse.”

Santiago Garcia, a middler electrical engineering major, said international recruiting is important to keep Northeastern competitive.

“We are a good university and it is important to recruit from other states but also from other countries too,” said Garcia, who is Colombian. “Making Northeastern known around the country is part of globalization.” Garcia said she became interested in Northeastern because of its location and job possibilities.

Nekai Lewis, a junior communications major, supports out-of-state recruiting and said she hopes the tactic helps Northeastern.

“To find the best and brightest you don’t just search in Massachusetts,” Lewis said. “Northeastern is trying to get into the Top 100 and have a better image, so they have to search in other places to get it, and also to get rid of the commuter college reputation.”

Lewis is from New York and said she chose Northeastern because of the co-op opportunities.

Northeastern’s geographic diversity lags behind other area colleges, like Boston College and Boston University. According to the BC Fact Book, the college’s Massachusetts student representation is 26 percent and out-of-state representation weighs in at 73 percent. BU has a 74.6 percentage of out-of-state students and a 5.3 percentage of international students, according to the BU Fact Sheet.

Turner said out-of-state recruiting efforts are not focused on reaching the Top 100 or competing with local universities, but on spreading Northeastern’s style of learning.

“We offer a very special and unique form of education here, and if we only focus in the New England areas then this unique education we offer could die,” Turner said. “It is about exposing Northeastern nationally and internationally for students to know the options they have.”

Philomena Mantella, senior vice president of enrollment management and student life, said renewed recruiting efforts will also help students in the long run.

“A national student body will assist us in creating a national presence as a university,” Mantella said. “When you take your Northeastern degree into the world of graduate school or work, we want people to know our name and the strong reputation of our school.”

As the new admissions period begins for the class of 2011, Turner said the department expects to have a diverse applicant pool. Turner said thanks to students currently attending Northeastern, spreading the word about the university has not been too difficult.

“We’re admitting the best students, and the reason we’re getting good students is because we have good students here already,” Turner said.

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