In the News: Buffalo State's Innovative Approach to Enrollment Strategy
Buffalo State University’s enrollment gains were prominently featured in a Buffalo News article about fall admission numbers at Western New York universities and colleges. Two grant programs, the Bengal Experience Grant and the Bengal Promise Grant, were highlighted in the article, titled “‘The Enrollment Slope’: WNY Colleges Shift Strategies to Attract Students.”
Buffalo News higher education reporter Janet Gramza wrote that Buffalo State’s “new undergraduate class of 2,045 students represents a nearly 20% increase from a year ago and the largest incoming class since Covid.”
Randyll P. Bowen, Buffalo State’s vice president for enrollment management, was asked about the impact of the grants: “These two programs paid huge dividends for us,” he said. “Our diversity has also grown from it.”
The article explained the two grants:
Buffalo State’s Bengal Experience Grant offers $1,000 to first-year students who make an official campus visit such as an open house or Accepted Students Day. The grant funds non-tuition expenses like housing, meals and books and is renewable for four years or “until a bachelor’s degree is earned.”
The Bengal Promise Grant offers another $3,000 a year in non-tuition aid to help students live on campus—an experience that connects them more deeply to their school in the long-term.
The article went on to note that this year’s residence hall occupancy is over 1,900, up 13 percent or close to 300 more than last year.
Related: Buffalo State Welcomes Largest Incoming Class of Last Three Years
Photo by Jesse Steffan-Colucci, Buffalo State photographer.
