Laurentian University enrolment starting to recover after 2 years in decline

Students are starting to return in larger numbers to the campus at Laurentian University after two years of declining enrolment in the wake of declaring insolvency in 2021.

The interim provost and vice-president (academic) said the Sudbury university admitted about 8,100 undergraduate and graduate students this fall an increase of 475 students over last fall.

Brenda Brouwer says a plan to bring back students in greater numbers is in the works.

"It's not where we want to be," she said. "We want to continue to grow,and again I mean part of this is the flow-through and the retention rate in programs."

Brouwer said the impact of low enrolment in the undergraduate programs over the past two years will continue as those students make their way through the three- to four-year programs.

She said they have intensified recruitment of international students, which accounted for some of the growth in admissions this year.

Brouwer saidinternational students consist of 17 per centof total enrolment this year, and are mainly studying computer science, business and engineering at the graduate level.

She said that in the past, international students were only eight per centof the Laurentian student body.

She also said Laurentian is aiming for a balance of domestic and international students.

Over the years, Brouwer said the number of students from Sudbury going to the hometown university has dropped from about a little under half 20years ago to about a third in recent years,a shift that seems natural to her.

"I mean people do tend to move out of their communities and go elsewhere, have that opportunity to expand ... and grow personally as well as toward their career choice and what their discipline of education might be," she said.

"So there's that side of it and we recruit more broadly as well. I mean, we recruit beyond the community and throughout Ontario, throughout Canada."

Program expansion under discussion

Brouwer said expansion of programs will be part of attracting more students, something new since 69 programs and 195 faculty staff were cut during restructuring in 2021 to ensure the university's financial survival.

Some of the disciplines that took a hit during restructuring may be making a comeback.

"There's been a lot of discussion about introducing an undergraduate program in Indigenous studies, for example," she said. "It is a priority."

Students at Laurentian lost access to Indigenous faculty and programs when the federated university that offered them was severed in Laurentian's bid to cut costs.

Environmental programs were also cut, but Brouwer said there's something new on the horizon.

"We've just introduced or will be introducing a certificate in environmental solutions which again is the beginning of expanding that aspect of that discipline across campus," she said. "And that will be a campus-wide interdisciplinary-type program. So those are just two examples of where we see tremendous potential for growth and attracting students."

Brouwer said the long-term goal is to increase enrolment to 10,000 students by 2028.