Enrollment for the 2016-2017 year has shown significant changes in the make-up of the incoming class. Most notably, the ratio of incoming males to female is the most evenly balanced it has been in several years. Houghton’s director of admission Ryan Spear disclosed a 43% male to 57% female ratio, with 133 incoming males and 174 incoming females.
The physical impact of the shift is immediately seen in regards to housing, as Marc Smithers, Assistant Dean of students for residence life, observed. “Roth and Shen are essentially at capacity this year,” he noted. Spear, observed the increase in male enrollment, while acknowledging the “disappointing” corresponding shift. “Female enrollment is down or flat,” he explained, comparing this year’s number of 174 to a previous three-year average of 185. Spear nonetheless positively noted “three years of growth among first year enrollments” overall, with numbers creeping up from 223, 238, 244, to this year’s 247.
Although Spear cannot immediately identify the reason(s) for the shift in this year’s enrollment, he explained three areas he is exploring. Spear noted the possibility of simply a “larger male application pool,” possibly related to Houghton’s first year using the common application, as well its own online application. He also mentions the draw of athletics, which he says are “trending toward greater parity,” with the male-female ratio at “about fifty-fifty” for this year’s enrollment.
Spear also intends to explore the draw of various academic programs, and noted the increasing cultural emphasis by incoming students on specific academic programs. “People more than ever want proof that they’re getting a valuable experience,” he said. “The first thing they want to know- is my program strong?” He noted various male-female ratios among departments for this year’s enrollment, such as female dominated adolescent education and biology, male dominated accounting and political science, and parity within physics. Yet Spear is unwilling to draw any immediate conclusions. He emphasized, “I don’t like simple explanations,” and noted the complexity of changes, such as this year’s enrollment.
Next year’s enrollment numbers and ratios cannot be predicted, but Spear and Smithers noted the questions that this year’s enrollment raises. “Is this a trend? Do we have the capacity?” are among these questions, Spear said. He noted various manifestations of the “bump” in male enrollment, such as Shen’s show room being “eliminated” to be used for actual housing. “We’re trying to figure out what to do next year if we have a similar kind of enrollment,” Smithers said, and noted “housing is the biggest thing because we have limited bed numbers to make available.” “It’s a good problem,” he emphasized. “I can speak for the RDs that it’s very exciting to have full residence halls,” Smithers said. He reflected on positive interactions with the incoming class, and stated, “In terms of residence halls, this can only be a huge benefit to us.”