Oklahoma College Enrollment Drops Slightly

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The number of students attending college in Oklahoma is down this year.<br/><br/>The State Regents for Higher Education says fall enrollment is down 1.5 percent from last year. A

Friday, October 6th 2006, 12:45 pm

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The number of students attending college in Oklahoma is down this year.

The State Regents for Higher Education says fall enrollment is down 1.5 percent from last year. A total of 178,678 students are enrolled this fall -- down by 2,650 from 2005.

Interim Chancellor Phil Moss says an improving economy and fewer high school graduates are among the reasons for the decline. Moss says college enrollment tends to level off or decrease during economic upturns.

Oklahoma State and Oklahoma showed a decline of one-point-six percent, regional universities are down by 1.5 percent and community colleges are down by 1.3 percent.

Still overall enrollment is up by more than ten percent since 2000 with nearly 16,500 more students.