YSU trustees addresses enrollment decline and program cuts

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown State University Board of Trustees met to address the decline in enrollment at YSU and how it will impact the schools fiscal future.
YSU's enrollment has declined by 1,398 students, or 11 percent, in the past 3 years and now stands at an all time low of 11,298.
This decline is due to a number of different factors, such as a decline in high school graduates, and an increasing number of students graduating in recent years.
“While the challenges are real and many, they are not unexpected,” YSU President Jim Tressel said. “We have worked hard over the past several years, through our strategic planning and academic program review processes, to position ourselves to make informed decisions and take deliberate actions that we believe will make YSU a stronger and more sustainable institution for years to come.”
The university will be analyzing where there are losses in revenue throughout the university. The university will decide which programs are beneficial to its academic future, and which programs are not.
Classes could be cut or offered every other semester instead of each semester or combined with like classes.
The university will also be working with different departments and unions to analyze the position of different faculty and staff throughout the university.
YSU will continue to identify academic programs that are best aligned with enrollment including the sunsetting of programs.
YSU-OEA sent the following statement regarding the situation:
"YSU’s budget deficit is, in part, a manufactured crisis caused by the administration's choice to prioritize spending increases in non-instructional areas. We strongly and vocally support student-centered budgeting, which prioritizes classes, programs, and professors over marketing expenditures and expensive corporate consultants."