Originally published November 5, 2010
Bradley is hoping to more than double its out-of-state enrollment with coastal representatives, Vice President for Student Affairs Alan Galsky said.
“There is specific emphasis on the East and West Coasts,” he said. “Two years ago, our out-of-state enrollment was approximately 13 percent, and we would like it to be at 35. That obviously is not going to happen overnight, but we have been there before.”
Galsky said there is a full-time representative on the East Coast and a part-time representative on the West Coast.
“We haven’t seen the results we want from the East Coast, but we are currently up in applications from the West Coast,” he said.
There was especially a pull from California, Galsky said.
“I believe this is for three reasons,” he said. “First, we have an alum, [Sal Tinajero,] who was on the speech team here and is now a high school teacher and speech team coach. He sends a lot of talented students to Bradley. Second, we had a West Coast representative for the first time last year. And third, the California higher education system is in trouble, and it is more difficult to get in.”
Galsky said he believes the East and West Coasts hold promise for Bradley, and the odds for a stronger out-of-state presence are high.
“We are trying for the East Coast because we’ve had a strong East Coast presence in the past, and the schools out there are so expensive that we have a good chance,” he said. “The West Coast has a fair number of students coming in. It’s beginning to show already.”
The main pull for Bradley is the cost, Galsky said.
“We also have students that come because of a specific reputation, as with the speech team, or somebody knowing someone because we have so many alums,” he said. “But we are about $10,000 cheaper yearly than private coastal schools. So cost-wise, we are highly competitive.”
Sophomore Student Admissions Representative Bryant Au said students attending tours tend to be from the Midwest.
“There are out-of-state visit day programs where kids will be from all over the map, but it’s really heavily Illinois and St. Louis dominated on a typical day,” he said.
Au said he was on the speech team in high school, and he also notices a heavy West Coast speech team presence.
“Bradley and Western Kentucky are kind of the two big speech schools on the college circuit,” Au said. “And California is one of the strong speech states so the team recruits pretty heavy and has a good reputation out there.”