With sagging enrollment and lower-than-desired graduation rates, Bowie State University is at a “critical juncture,” said its president, Mickey L. Burnim.
Enrollment is around 5,300, a slight dip from last year, and six-year graduation rates are about 40 percent, according to data from the University System of Maryland.
Burnim said the numbers are largely a reflection of financial need ? an issue facing historically black colleges and universities nationwide.
“I would say the most substantial barrier to graduation for students attending public or private historically black colleges remains financial needs,” United Negro College Fund President and CEO Michael L. Lomax said.
But Burnim has a comprehensive plan he said will reverse the trends at Bowie State.
To begin with, he wants to raise more private money for the university. He also plans to step up recruiting efforts outside Prince George?s County, home to 69 percent of the school?s undergraduates.
“I think our students could benefit from a more geographically diverse enrollment,” Burnim said. “We will be looking to Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel and Montgomery counties.”
With recruitment comes marketing, and Bowie plans to push its computer science and teacher education programs, two of the school?s strongest.
Burnim also wants to establish a centralized academic advising center for all first- and second-year students and implement a student-tracking system to help monitor academic progress.
Regardless of trends in enrollment, the demand for historically black institutions will always be there, Lomax said.
“Students feel comfortable and valued in the environment,” he said. “And [historically black institutions] know how to engage students whose families don?t have a lot of experience in higher education.”
Bowie student Cory Whitaker, 27, said he mostly values the individual attention and the flexibility of his schedule.
“My experience at Bowie State has been wonderful,” he said.
