We recently learned that a couple of state flag universities in Iowa celebrated their enrollment decreases. What? Are you serious?  How could this be? Well, using one on the administrators’ words, the State is celebrating because it has found the sweet spot, where the high ed institutions are able to offer the best services to their clientele. So, what is the sweet spot? How can you find it at your institution?  AAEA has published an article in its Blog many years ago on this strategic mindset.  Finally, Iowans have listened to what the Association has said.

The following partial article was quoted from Des Moines Register written by Kathy A. Bolten on September 6 and updated on 09/07, 2018.

• At Iowa State, officials are developing a five-year enrollment management plan that could limit enrollment between 35,000 and 37,000 students, said Laura Doering, ISU’s associate vice president of enrollment management and student success.
  “That range is the sweet spot of where we can best serve students,” she said. “We want to be sure they cross the finish line.”
  Data released Thursday by Iowa’s three public universities show:
• At Iowa State University, 35,443 students enrolled. That’s 550 fewer students than last year, a 1.5 percent drop. Undergraduate enrollment slipped 2.6 percent to 29,621, down 785 students from 2017-18.
  The University of Iowa enrolled 32,948 students. That’s 616 fewer students than a year ago, 1.8 percent drop. Undergraduate enrollment slipped 2.1 percent to 23,989, down 514 students from 2017-18.
• And at the University of Northern Iowa, enrollment was 11,212, or 695 fewer students than in 2017-18, a 5.8 percent decline. Undergraduate enrollment fell below 10,000 for the first time since 1982. This fall, 9,561 undergraduates are enrolled at UNI, 444 fewer than in 2017-18, a 4.4 percent drop.