YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Youngstown State University President Bill Johnson gave his very first State of the University Address at the Ford Theater in Bliss Hall Tuesday morning.

During the address, President Johnson discussed enrollment, as well as potential improvements to the university for students, faculty and staff.

While on the subject of improvements, President Johnson discussed some improvement efforts the university is already making such as addressing students' concerns about advisors.

"I've talked to our students who have had multiple advisors over the first couple of years that they have been here. And their complaint is that each time they change advisors, they get a new vision about how to get to graduation and it really confuses them so they're struggling to get a clear view and a clear path forward. We're working to fix this," Johnson said.

Johnson went on to say he's open to hear more suggestions from students and staff for ideas to improve the university.

"If you have ideas on how we can make life better for our students, because that's why we're all here in the first place, come and see me. My door is open," Johnson said.

On the topic of enrollment, Johnson said one of his goals is to increase enrollment at the university stating YSU is beginning to feel the pressure of competing universities "capturing the student market" of YSU.

Johnson attributed enrollment challenges to declining birth rates leaving less college-bound students also brought up what he describes as a "false narrative" that he believes is causing students and their families to question the value of college.

"Some are saying [college] it's not needed at all, and some are saying it costs too much. I somewhat disagree with both of those statements," Johnson said.

"In a career outcome survey conducted in 2022 and 2023, we found that a Mahoning Valley high school graduate with no college education earns an average of just over $25,000 [a year], while YSU associate's degree graduates earn an average of over $49,000 per year. But that study also revealed that YSU bachelor's degree graduates earn an average of over $60,000 per year. So clearly, the value proposition of a college education indicates that there is a significant return on investment," Johnson said.

Johnson said the way to recruit students is to be competitive and use tools and methods to resonate with students in order to attract them to YSU.

Despite those challenges, Johnson said enrollment is still up at YSU. While the exact number is not available yet, enrollment has increased by 6%.

However, it's important to note that part of that 6% comes from displaced Eastern Gateway Community College students moving over to YSU following Eastern Gateway dissolving.

As part of the efforts to be competitive, Johnson discussed the addition of over 60 new programs for the university including new aviation and CDL programs to address shortages in the aviation and commercial transportation fields.

"We'll begin teaching some of those courses online this fall. And soon the big red Y will be going up in Steubenville in Jefferson County as we begin teaching in the classroom there as well," Johnson said.

Johnson says other methods of being competitive including summer mentorship programs for high-potential students, as well as tapping into veteran and active duty military markets and expanding its online markets.

However, Johnson clarified that he has no intent to turn YSU into an online only university.

"If we want to significantly increase enrollment and if we want to remain competitive in the national arena of institutions of higher learning, we must have a multi-focused philosophy of both online and in-resident on-campus offerings. Our competitors are doing it, and we've demonstrated that we can do it," Johnson said.

Following the address, we asked Johnson if any more programs are planned to be cut from the university following a series of cuts previously reported on in January.

Johnson said there are no further cuts planned that he is aware of.