OUR VIEW: University needs to increase freshmen enrollment, because student enrollment is the lowest since fall 2004.

Compared to 1,213 juniors and 1,902 seniors, 702 freshmen is a very low number.

If this number do not change soon, tuition will increase from year to year until hopefully better times will hit us or the university has to file bankruptcy.

But administrators have put thought and effort into increasing the number of freshmen by hiring marketing companies  that are spending thousands of dollars to get the word out that Midwestern is a respectable university.

Robert Clark, vice president for administration and institutional effectiveness, supports EURECA, a program starting next fall, which offers more scholarships to students and increases communication and partnership in between colleges on campus due to student research and engagement.

A university needs to offer opportunity. The general idea is there, more support in sports and academic excellency are the key to increase Midwestern’s popularity. The only problem is where to start because Midwestern is far behind on catching up with the millennium generation. No Wi-Fi in the dorms is a big contra on any student’s list.

To stay connected to the Internet is inevitable and necessary for fast communication and access to information. Asking questions or taking a walk to the library are last resort options no student is going to take into account nowadays.

What students need is high speed Internet.

Next fall semester, residential services are finally going to remodel the dorms to install Wi-Fi and get rid of Ethernet cords that lock students to their desks to access the internet.

The remodeling is going to bring new costs with it increasing rates for rooms in Killingsworth, Pierce and McCullough Trigg, as well as a 2.26 percent increase for the 14 meal plan in the cafeteria and a 4.85 percent increase for the 25 Meal Block. At least tuition money does not finance the remodeling of the residential halls, but living on campus is becoming more expensive, which is also counterproductive.

Residential and dining costs are most significant to freshmen, who plan on moving to campus and have not graduated from either H.S. Rider High School or Wichita Falls High School.

Consequently, all numbers are working against each other. The amount of enrolling freshmen is decreasing, the price of living and eating expenses is increasing, and the only positive number so far is that the bandwidth will be bigger.

The first wireless programs came out in 1991. It has taken MSU 22 yers to update its system.It is necessary for a university to keep up with newest technology and options, otherwise enrollment numbers will suffer.