HIGHLAND HEIGHTS — The youngest of the region's universities is growing up fast.

        Explosive growth, niche marketing, and a “big picture” outlook have marked Northern Kentucky University's emergence as a major player among universities in the commonwealth and the Tristate.

The booming NKU campus has a $38 million science center under construction. A $45 million arena and new dorms are in the master plan. (Glenn Hartong photos) | ZOOM |

        “When I graduated, a lot of people perceived NKU as not as good as other colleges in the area,” said Linda Tally Smith, Boone County's commonwealth attorney.

        “I always resented that attitude,” said the 1991 NKU graduate, “because I felt I was as prepared if not better prepared. But now, people perceive it as a long-standing, well-reputed college.”

        Once chided as “No Knowledge State College,” is garnering more students, more money, more political power and more respect. Lots more.

        Harvard University's Institute for Higher Education recently praised NKU President James Votruba's plan for growth, “Visions, Values and Voices,” as a textbook example of how to engage community values in a university's growth.

        At age 33, NKU is the youngest of Greater Cincinnati's major colleges and the youngest of Kentucky's eight public universities.

        Key to its approach, said Sue Hodges Moore, executive vice president of Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education, is aggressively positioning itself in the community and the state's higher education system.

Nursing students (from left) Kimberly Bina, Marcy Lewis and Lynette Cooper measure the temperature of milk as they pasteurize it in a microbiology class. | ZOOM |

        All the while, its size, price and location keep attracting students.

        “It's no longer viewed as a second-class citizen,” said Mrs. Moore, a 1977 NKU alumna. “It's a vital, expanding university. It's engaged, in terms of meeting the needs of students and the surrounding communities. It's very much connected to the economic vitality of Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati.

        “The players — the council, the legislators — don't even think of Northern any more as the new kid on the block. They look at Northern as being as formidable a player as any of the institutions.”

        Consider:

        • Enrollment this year is expected to hit a record 13,000.

        • The budget is expected to exceed $100 million next year - up 130 percent in the past decade.

        • Eighteen academic programs have been added since 1990, emphasizing education, technology, work-force training and the sciences.

        • A $38 million science center is being built, the largest single campus construction project ever financed by the state.

        • New dorms, an outdoor recreation center, a new student center and a 6,500-seat, $45 million regional arena are in the master plan. All that could expand the 364-acre campus by nearly 40 percent in coming years and area business leaders are pushing state lawmakers to fund the arena next year.

Paul Frazier, horticulture supervisor, leads a group of Governor's Scholars on a tour of the NKU campus. Eight of the scholars will attend in the fall. | ZOOM |

        It's all contributed to an increased regard for the school across the Ohio River from Cincinnati to an improved reputation among students, businesses, legislators and educators.

        “We were always sort of the local school,” said Fran Zaniello, a NKU professor and director of first-year programs. “It doesn't matter how good you are when you're in people's back yard. It was easy for people for many years not to hold us in high regard.

        “We're changing, and the word gets out what good value Northern is.”

        This fall's enrollment is expected to grow by at least 6 percent over last year's 12,100 students, including a 15 percent increase in incoming freshmen and a 40 percent jump in transfer students, said Gregory Stewart, associate vice president for enrollment management.

        That's a long way from 1968 when the school opened with 1,400 students.

        Over the three decades, NKU has grown from a two-year community college to a four-year state college. It is now the third largest regional university in the state with enrollment expected to exceed 15,000 in the next five years.

        “We are quickly becoming the place of choice for many areas of instruction,” Mr. Stewart said. “We have a large number of students coming to NKU who never came before.”

        Among those is Christina Budai, valedictorian of West Clermont Local Schools' Glen Este High. Ms. Budai also applied to the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, Thomas More College and the College of Mount St. Joseph.

        She chose NKU because of its size and suburban environment.

        “I was a little leery of a university right in the middle of a major city so enormous that all you are is a number,” she said. “And I didn't want to go to a school so small that it's like your high school.”

        Higher education enrollment is rising nationally, and NKU's growth mirrors that of regional universities across the country, said Travis Reindl, state policy director for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.

        “It's all about niche marketing,” he said. “You have to find a niche and exploit it if you're going to pull away students that would go to the universities of Kentucky or Louisville.

        “The regional institutions take advantage of size and special programs that you many not be able to get anywhere else in the state. A lot of the regional institutions are just gearing up to do that.”

        NKU also benefits from a governor and legislature supportive of higher education, proximity to an expanding major metropolitan area and strong leadership, Mr. Reindl said.

        “It's a convergence of factors that is very favorable,” he said.

        It's in the suburbs but within minutes of Cincinnati's metropolitan area. Average class size is 23 students, and the student-to-faculty ratio is 17 to 1.

        “You don't find that at the UKs or the UCs,” Dr. Votruba said. “We are still a very up-close and personal campus.”

        And NKU's annual tuition of $2,700 for in-state students and $7,000 for out-of-state residents is one the most inexpensive in Greater Cincinnati. Plus, in the past year, the university offered in-state tuition costs to some Ohio and Indiana students just across the river.
       

Heightened competition
        Sixty percent of its students come from Boone, Kenton and Campbell counties. Another 1,500 come from elsewhere in Kentucky and 2,900 students are from outside the state, including nearly 1,000 Tristate students from Ohio and Indiana.

        “We have definitely felt that impact,” said Bob McDermott, director of enrollment management at Thomas More College, pointing to NKU's new science building, increased funding and expanded scholarship program. “NKU has always been a competitor of ours, but those things obviously make them much more competitive.”

        However, Thomas More is also expecting record enrollment numbers this fall for its incoming class, Mr. McDermott said.

        The area's larger schools say NKU's growth is not a threat to them.

        “We've not felt any impact,” said Marc Camille, dean of admissions at Xavier University, which has an all-time high of freshman applications this year.

        “Because it's a regional university, I don't see them making such a dramatic impact on the rest of the state,” said Kelly Sullivan, admissions associate director for the University of Kentucky.
       

Recruiting, retention
        Through aggressive recruiting and new scholarship programs, NKU is becoming more competitive for top students. This fall's freshman class includes nine valedictorians, six salutatorians and eight Governor's Scholars, the state's premier academic program, Mr. Stewart said.

        NKU increased academic scholarships four years ago, including its Distinguished Scholars, full four-year scholarships given to students with a 29 or higher on the ACT. The university is awarding 25 of these scholarships this fall, one to Ms. Budai.

        The honors program has averaged 125 freshmen each year for three years, compared to an average of 40 before the scholarship programs. The number of honors courses offered each semester has jumped from eight or 10 to more than 30.

        Thirty-five percent of its students graduate within six years, up from 24 percent in 1997. And 65 percent of freshmen return for a second year.
       

Legislative connection
        Still, NKU officials say it is drastically underfunded by the state, drawing more than half of its budget from tuition.

        But last year, aggressive lobbying by students, alumni and administrators garnered a 10 percent increase in state funding. “We said we were going to stop whining about being underfunded and talk about vision and how this university's growing and demonstrate ways we're going to improve the quality of life in the state,” Dr. Votruba said.

        NKU has a much stronger voice in Frankfort now, said Rep. Jon Draud, R-Crestview Hills, crediting Dr. Votruba.

        “He's really building an outstanding reputation at Northern,” Mr. Draud said.

        Its traditional regional college emphasis on remedial courses is shifted to a stronger concentration on four-year undergraduate and graduate programs, Dr. Votruba said.

        This fall there will be new graduate programs in teaching and information systems as well as a new College of Education and a Center for Civic Engagement.

        That effort has also lead to work-force training programs such as the Metropolitan Education and Training Services and more satellite campuses, including centers at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Maysville Community College and the IRS Center in Covington. Plus, NKU is pursuing more corporate partnerships with companies like Delta Air Lines and Fidelity Investments, which house on-campus training centers at the university.

        The expanded offerings and service-oriented approach has secured NKU's standing among businesses. Many Northern Kentucky business leaders say they prefer NKU graduates when looking for employees.

        John Finnan, president of People's Bank of Northern Kentucky, said his company hires several NKU graduates and gives jobs to students while in school. Several of the bank's top executives are NKU alumni.

        “NKU has helped the region grow,” he said. “An awful lot of people have stayed in the area because of the university.”

        Dr. Votruba said he expects enrollment, budget, programs and facilities to keep climbing as well as the university's public image. A proposed Northern Kentucky community college would further reduce NKU's remedial programs, allowing the university to be more selective. NKU now accepts 97 percent of its applicants.

        In the next decade, NKU's focus will be on work-force training while maintaining a strong liberal arts base, Dr. Votruba said.

        “We need people in this community who are educated and not just trained,” he said. “Students who come here are going to get a strong dose of general education as well as preparation for a career.”
       

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