Engineering Freshman Enrollments: Critical and Non‐critical Factors

Abstract

Freshman enrollment and bachelors degree data over the last three decades for all undergraduates as well as engineering students are analyzed and compared to variations in the numbers of high school graduates. Engineering enrollment data trends are shown to differ significantly from those of undergraduates as a whole and to exhibit little correlation with trends in high school graduation data. Freshman engineering enrollments show a very strong correlation with factors which might indicate to high school students the magnitude of their personal economic gain such as on‐campus industrial interviewing intensity, annual growth in starting salaries and starting salary levels relative to average salaries of all undergraduates. No correlation between engineering freshman enrollments and national economic conditions as measured by the Gross Domestic Product or unemployment was found. Implications of the correlation between freshman enrollments and perceived personal economic reward are considered in terms of strategies for recruiting freshmen, student performance in engineering curricula and trends for the future.

The students-recruiting-students undergraduate engineering recruiting programme

“…Table 2 details the specific types of information that are disseminated through these materials. Materials must be informative and geared toward a HS audience (Heckel 1996). We have found that HS students find the thought of working for trendy, popular companies appealing.…”

“…Care is taken to avoid dwelling strictly on traditional and longstanding organizations that may sound boring to this younger audience. Heckel (1996) notes that it is important to link the hard work associated with an engineering degree to the economic rewards of the future. In addition, prospective students want to hear about the fun aspects of college life, such as sporting events, social organizations and dormitory life.…”

“…Given this, the development of effective means to recruit quality engineering students has become a high priority for many engineering programmes (Kane 1987;Hossler 1991;Heckel 1996;Varma et al 1999;Foroudastan 2001). This paper presents the details of the development and implementation of the students-recruiting-students (SRS) undergraduate engineering recruiting programme for the Industrial Engineering (IE) Department at the University of Arkansas.…”

“…This paper presents the details of the development and implementation of the students-recruiting-students (SRS) undergraduate engineering recruiting programme for the Industrial Engineering (IE) Department at the University of Arkansas. Recent literature promotes the development of 'outreach' programmes, like SRS, that target prospective senior high school (HS) students by conveying relevant and interesting information to these students and their families (Hossler 1991;Heckel 1996;Varma et al 1999;Foroudastan 2001;Prucz 2001). Hossler (1991) goes on to say that recruiting programmes targeting new students are so critical that they 'should be integrated into the strategic planning process of each campus, and that [the programs] should be viewed within the larger context of academic programs, policies, and administrative systems'.…”

“…Since declining engineering enrolments are a critical issue to technologically intensive industries (Heckel 1996), recruiting incoming freshmen into engineering programmes has long-term effects on the engineering profession. Given this, the development of effective means to recruit quality engineering students has become a high priority for many engineering programmes (Kane 1987;Hossler 1991;Heckel 1996;Varma et al 1999;Foroudastan 2001).…”