Undergrad Enrollments Decline; Programs Feel Budget Squeeze

Abstract

Undergraduate enrollments declined in the autumn of 1993, as they did in 1992. Smaller freshman through junior classes from previous years suggest this downsizing of the undergraduate enrollment will continue. Graduate enrollment continued to increase, however, as did the number of graduate degrees awarded.The reduced enrollment may not mean that journalism and mass communication education is less appealing to students. Rather, it appears to reflect the effects of enrollment control policies, budget reductions, and a lagging job market. New to the annual survey this year is a major section providing baseline data on institutional structures, resources, and policies affecting enrollment.Against this background, the field is developing a more substantial graduate education mission. M.A. enrollments increased for the third straight year. Doctoral enrollments are also regaining strength.Within undergraduate programs, the number of students enrolled in print and broadcast journalism increased--the trend is toward increased enrollment in these traditional areas of journalism studies.Women continue to outnumber men at the bachelor's and master's levels, and the gap between men and women at the doctoral level is decreasing.The proportion of students who are African-American or Hispanic increased in 1993.Researchers at the School of Journalism of Ohio State University have conducted the Annual Survey of Journalism & Mass Communication Enrollments every year since 1968. The survey methods were revised in 1988 and have remained basically unchanged since.Schools listed in either the Journalism Mass Communication Directory published by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication or the Journalism Career and Scholarship Guide, published by The Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, are included in the population of surveyed schools.All degree-granting senior colleges and universities with courses organized under the labels of journalism and mass communication are invited to be listed in the AEJMC Directory. To be included in the Guide, the college or university must offer at least 10 courses in news-editorial journalism, and those courses must include core courses, such as an introduction to the mass media and press law and ethics, as well as basic skills courses, such as reporting and editing.In 1992, the two journalism programs listed in the AEJMC Directory in Puerto Rico were included in the population definition for the first time. Combining these two directories produced 440 entries in 1993, though 10 programs subsequently were excluded because no active or separate program existed at the university.(1) The two directories listed 420 operational units in 1992, 414 in 1991, 404 in 1990, 395 in 1989, and 394 schools in 1988.(2)In October 1993, a questionnaire was mailed to the administrator of each of these programs. Subsequent mailings of this same questionnaire were sent to non-responding schools in December, January, and March. Non-responding schools were subsequently contacted by telephone and asked to complete the questionnaire over the telephone or by mail.The questionnaire asked the administrator to provide information on total enrollments in the autumn of 1993: by year in school, by sequence of study, by gender, and by racial or ethnic group. In addition, administrators were asked to indicate the number and type of degree granted in the 1992-93 academic year: by sequence of study, by gender, by racial group, and by term within the academic year. The questionnaire also asked about faculty size.For the first time in 1993, questions were included in the survey instrument on the status of the journalism and mass communication programs within the university. Administrators were asked about course close-outs, budgets, faculty growth, and discussion of expansion or reduction of programs.Data were obtained for all but two of the 430 schools in the population. …