THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 19, 1996 TAG: 9602190054
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: CHARLESTON, S.C. LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
The number of applications coming into The Citadel is decreasing, and officials at the all-male military college are pondering new marketing strategies instead of battle plans.
``Of course we are concerned,'' said Col. Spike Metts, dean of planning and assessment. ``It would be foolish for any institution - regardless of its traditions and strength - to think it does not have to go out and market itself.''
Applications to the embattled Citadel have decreased steadily since 1991 except for an increase of five between 1994 and 1995, according to February application figures.
Applications for the class of 1995 totaled 1,136 in contrast to 948 applications received for the class of 2000.
Similar trends at some of the country's military academies may be a symptom of defense downsizing and the declining viability of a military career. But few Citadel graduates actually enter the service.
Metts said it could be that fewer 18-year-old students are coming out of high schools or that colleges and universities across the board are experiencing declines.
However, admissions officers at state colleges and universities, both single-gender and coed, public and private, said application rates are steady or increasing.
Metts admitted the controversy surrounding the school, which has refused to allow women into its cadet corps, may be driving potential students away.
The all-male policies of The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute now rest with the U.S. Supreme Court.
But VMI has not experienced similar repercussions. That college had a decrease in applications of 5 percent to 10 percent each year from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the newspaper reported.
However, those figures have stabilized in the past few years and show a 3 percent increase between the 1995 and 1999 classes. Midyear figures for the class of 2000 show an 8 percent increase from last year. by CNB