A record 28,682 students are enrolled at Iowa State University this fall — up 2.6 percent from the previous record set a year ago. What’s even more impressive is the gains occurred in virtually every category: Undergraduate enrollment, international student enrollment, graduate student enrollment, a record number of transfer students and the most diverse student enrollment in the University’s history. And this year’s freshman class is the second largest ever at ISU.

All of this occurred in spite of a declining number of high schools students to draw from.

Lots of colleges and universities around the country are experiencing enrollment increases. The economy has played a big role. But for Iowa State, this year’s records are no anomoly. They continue a steady trend of enrollment increases that have been taking place during the past five years.   

We’re proud to have played a part in helping Iowa State achieve these milestones with campaigns that have invited teens to “Enjoy the Adventure at Iowa State.” These campaigns succeed year after year because they address teens’ anticipation that their college years will deliver the best experience of their lives, the chance to discover who they are and what they want to become, in an environment where they fit in.

One of the biggest factors impacting Millennials is the impact of a college education and financing that education.  Study after study shows that the college graduate is likely to make a million dollars more than the non-college graduate over the course of their lifetime.

Yet this economy has millennial graduates questioning the wisdom of their decision.  Jobs are scarce and student loan payments come due every month.  A COUNTRY Financial survey noted that 31 percent of Americans have borrowed money to finance their educations. Nearly two-thirds have paid off their obligation and only 16 percent said it had a significant impact on their decision making.

Forty percent of Millennials indicate that their student loans have a significant impact on their lives, a full 24 percent difference from the general population.  This differential is either an indication of the impact of the economy on Millennial mindsets, or an indication that pain mellows with time, or both.

Millennials have been described as the coddled, everyone gets a trophy generation and maybe some of that is true.  What certainly is not true, is that this generation is being welcomed into the workforce with open checkbooks.  The economic conditions may, in the end, be more formative on attitudes and work habits of Millennials than most other factors.

They have been forced to be thrifty and conservative with their dollars.  As a result, they may look more than most generations at the true value of the things they buy.  Cheap and good brands like Jimmy John’s and Chipotle Mexican Grill are well positioned to compete for the Millennial fast food dollar.

Cheap and good poses a wholly different challenge for higher education.   The four year university must build value in the four year experience to justify the cost.  It must realize that the college experience is much more than just going to Biology 101.  It is everything involved in helping a young Millennial grow into an adult with potential, dreams and ability.  The result of that experience is the reason students paint their bodies to cheer on their team.

Suggest your 13-year-old  shut down the X-box and exercise, or drink a glass of milk instead of Mountain Dew and you’re in for a battle.

But if the same suggestions come from one of his friends, it’s an entirely different story. For young teens, peer pressure is everything.  

That was the idea behind the Super-Power Summit — a youth wellness initiative that we managed for the Midwest Dairy Council, the Iowa Department of Education’s Team Nutrition Program and Iowa State University Extension for Families and 4H.

The day-long summit feature inspiring speakers such as Charlie Wittmack, who climbed to the top of Mount Everest, and Tim Dwight, an All-American from the University of Iowa who went on to become a leading kick returner in the NFL.

The event also featured a street marketing events that engaged the downtown lunch crowd with physical activities and important messages about eating healthy.

You Google childhood obesity and the first image that comes up contains your logo. You can just imagine the blame every viewer of this photo places on McDonald’s. Is it McDonald’s fault? It is if they do nothing about it.

To McDonald’s credit they have taken some initiative by offering healthful substitutes to the french fries it offers in Happy Meals and if you happen to have your laptop with internet access while you’re ordering, you can get nutritional data for the meal you select.

By the way, did you know a Big Mac, large fry and a medium Cokes comes in at over 1200 calories?

I suppose that by doing more they would be admitting what is patently obvious to everyone else and that is that their food…along with nearly every other fast food restaurant….can make you obese if you eat too much.

Yet they miss an opportunity to do well by doing good. If they would provide people with encouragement to make good choices from their menu, they’d find people making more good choices from their menu. I’m guessing that the profit margin on a box of lettuce is at least as good as the Big Mac.

Imagine, if they conducted a social marketing campaign that encouraged parents to fight childhood obesity by bringing their children to McDonald’s and serving up fruit burgers. Then they would actually change the eating habits of a generation and firmly plant themselves and their franchisees at the forefront of the new way. Their profits soar, stockholders are happy and the government stays off their back.

Just a thought.

It’s a record-breaker: Iowa State University fall enrollment nears 28,000
AMES, Iowa - This fall has ushered in Iowa State University’s highest-ever enrollment — 27,945 students, an increase of more than 4 percent compared to fall 2008.

Iowa State has welcomed 1,089 more students to campus this fall over the previous year: 914 undergraduates, 33 professional (veterinary medicine) students, and 142 graduate students. Last fall’s enrollment was 26,856. The second-largest class enrolled at Iowa State was in 2002, with a total enrollment of 27,898.

This year’s enrollment exceeds earlier university projections to the Iowa Board of Regents by 895 students. In nearly every respect, fall 2009 is a record-setting year at Iowa State.

By the numbers
The total Iowa State University student body of 27,945 represents:

• A record 3,017 international students, an increase of 520 students from fall 2008. The previous high for international enrollment was 2,692 students in fall 1993.

• A record graduate student enrollment of 4,860, an increase of 142 students from fall 2008. The previous graduate enrollment record was 4,789 in fall 1991.

• A record professional (veterinary medicine) student enrollment of 564, breaking last fall’s record high of 531 students.

• A record U.S. minority enrollment of 2,533 students, or 9.1 percent of the overall student body. That’s 216 more minority students than in fall 2008. Iowa State has again exceeded the 8.5 percent minority enrollment goal set by the Board of Regents.

• The most diverse student body on record. International and U.S. minority students represent one in five students on the ISU campus. Total international + U.S. minority enrollment is 5,550 students, or 19.9 percent of total enrollment. The previous high was in fall 2008, with 17.9 percent.

• 18,503 Iowa residents, an increase of 355 students from fall 2008.

• 9,442 nonresidents, an increase of 734 students from fall 2008.

• 22,521 undergraduates, an increase of 914 from fall 2008. Of those undergraduates, 16,164 are Iowans - the highest number enrolled since fall 2004.

This fall, Iowa State attracted its largest transfer class since 2001: 1,622 students, up from 1,537 in fall 2008. Of this year’s 1,622 transfer students, 982 are Iowa community college transfers - up from 945 last year. ISU also attracted its third-largest freshman class in history: 4,356 students. That’s 190 fewer freshmen than in fall 2008.

“The continuing growth in our enrollment is a testament to the high-quality education students receive at Iowa State University,” said ISU President Gregory Geoffroy. “We are very proud that we continue to be the university of choice for Iowa high school graduates and community college transfer students, as well as for a large number of out-of-state and international students.”

Marc Harding, director of Admissions and Enrollment Services, attributes ISU’s jump in enrollment to several factors - a comprehensive recruitment and retention effort that is supported by the entire university community; a strong transfer program with the state’s community colleges; and the economy.

“Graduate enrollments tend to rise when the economy is not doing well. And for undergraduates, there is a greater emphasis than ever to seek higher education, because college graduates typically have greater earning power over the course of a lifetime and are less likely to be unemployed. We’re also seeing that Iowa families are finding good values here in the state, and those students are coming to Iowa State instead of going out of state for their education,” Harding said.

Harding’s excitement about the fall 2009 enrollment numbers is tempered by reality, however. He says the admissions process is cyclical. Over the past decade, Iowa State’s enrollment has increased during seven of those years, and decreased the other three.

“We anticipate that fall 2010 overall enrollment will decline,” Harding said. “One reason is that we are about to graduate some larger classes. Another reason is that the freshman class of 2010 is projected to be smaller. We’re already seeing a glimpse of that this fall - the freshman class is the third largest on record, but it’s 4 percent smaller than in fall 2008.

“Demographics continue to work against the trend of increasing enrollment. In Iowa and all across the Midwest, the eligible pool of high school students is declining. That means we have to work extra hard just to maintain what we have.”