Arkansas Week: Arkansas Tourism/College Enrollment Surges
Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the Arkansas Times and Little Rock Public Radio. And hello again, everyone, and thanks very much for being with us. If higher education is central to a better Arkansas, then there is some encouraging news coming from Arkansas campuses. College enrollment numbers are up and in a moment, we'll speak with a university president about what's at work on that front, his campus and others. First, this is Arkansas.
So September means there's still a lot of swimming weather remaining. But that said, Labor Day signals the end of summer more or less. But it marks the beginning more or less of a second season that's almost as crucial to a crucial Arkansas industry. So what sort of year has it been and what's the autumn outlook? We're joined now by Shay Lewis, secretary of the State Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism. Thank you, Mr.
Secretary, for coming in. Let's start with the season that's just ended. How was it for Arkansas? So it proved to be a great season for Arkansas. We continue just to see growth in the tourism economy across the state. We're so fortunate to have great seasons like Summer that so many people come to Arkansas to visit our lakes, rivers, streams, great municipal destinations that we have across our state, some of our well-known tourism destinations, whether that's northwest Arkansas or Hot Springs or central Arkansas, Little Rock.
But the great thing is, is that Arkansas is really becoming known more as a destination 365 days a year. And we're kind of really taking a look at that for promotion purposes, specifically of the entire state year round. For a long time, Arkansas was its own best tourism customers. That's still the case. It is. We're fortunate to have so many in-state visitors, but I know within Arkansas state parks specifically, it's about 50, 50, 50% of our visitors in Arkansas state parks come from in-state, 50 out-of-state.
And, you know, that was really tested this year during the eclipse where we saw so such a higher percentage, a high eighties, a percentage out-of-state, coming to Arkansas, visiting Arkansas state parks for the eclipse. Texas for a long time was our biggest customer in our state anyway. But it continues to be continues to be. Texas, of course, is nearby, has large population centers. They, especially Central Texas, East Texas, looking for those large Clearwater Lakes.
They love visiting us and the outdoors remains our biggest draw. That's right. Outdoors and outdoors. Outdoor recreation, for sure. So what about the contagious states as well? They're coming in second today. They are often we see, of course, we have always promoted around the states that touch the state of Arkansas.
And they are a large draw for us, especially kind of in a regional perspective. One thing that we've done a little bit different this year, we've expanded our promotion to 14 states out West, working with our partners, our W and and looking at data points that have pointed to where visitation trends are in the states advertising agency that you just mentioned. That's great. That's great.
That's our partner and our state's advertising agency working closely with them. They we have found and detailed approaches that that are welcoming Guest from new areas. And with the advent of technology, we're able to really target key audiences and invite them to our it's what is that? The west of course, is known for its vast spaces and it's its outdoor attractions like that. So what's our pitch?
So one of our pitches this last year was it's probably not snowing here. And so so as as we had guessed again, a lot of places with the idea of that this campaign took place in the in the fall and winter was placed in Colorado and in the western mountain states. The idea behind that was that we do provide opportunities for 365 days of outdoor recreation. So if you're tired of the snow, if you're tired of being inside, you want to be out on your mountain bike, you can come and ride your mountain bike in Arkansas in February and enjoy the weather that we have. We want to get to that, too. First, we've got the autumn season here coming in and then football, the leaves of turning, etc., etc..
What can one more before we go to that tour? Is there one single draw? I mean, the the outdoors is a great that's an umbrella. But is there one single destination draw? Hot Springs continues to be the number one draw for the state of Arkansas as a tourism destination. But to me it is a perfect combination of natural, historical and cultural resources that come together. So you have the City of Hot Springs, its history, the national park that's there. You have the lakes that surround it, You have the wash tall mountains, but you also have great places to stay.
Spend the night and have it enjoy nice meals. Well, we have three casinos up and running now. I mean, casinos are everywhere.
Is that a measurable out of state? It is. It is. There's no doubt that that the three casinos across the state have an impact and visitors come for those as well. Okay. Now to the autumn outlook. How are we? So what are you anticipating? So some projections we do, if we look back a little bit to 20, 23. So our numbers always take a little while to come in to get a full picture of what has taken place.
2023 we saw continued increases. Again, we're seeing this year, this calendar year, we have seen increases in the 2%. Tourism tax growth continues to happen there as well.
So we protect project that that will continue. If you look at state parks, Arkansas state parks, specifically, we have come off a record year in in visitation or in revenue production. Fall is a very important time for that. We're hoping for good fall colors, good weather to bring guests and visitors. Nobody wants a recession, nobody wants inflation.
But they have, you know, no matter what state they have tended to benefit in state tourism. Your take on that? Sure. I can certainly say, you know, sitting around my kitchen table that it's obvious that the things goods and services are costing more. You know, it's it's apparent that it's having an impact.
Fuel prices are an impact. So typically what happens is when we see those things take place within state parks, we we see positive growth because they are close to their local. And we're so fortunate to have the Amendment 75 that supports our state park system. And because of that, we can provide services, opportunities, lodging events and activities at a very reasonable price for Arkansans and for people from out of state as well. You mentioned a moment ago the state's relationship was contract, you know, with its advertising and marketing agency and perhaps not improperly. They kept those contracts, came under a dish or a level of scrutiny that's not always seen.
That's now been resolved. It has. Do you anticipate a renewal of that scrutiny? I feel like the role of the department is to prove that that we're working hard to make sure that we're using the tax dollars effectively. And that's an important part of my responsibility, is to make sure that we take the tax dollars that come in from the 2% tax and that we use those dollars to work with the agency to bring more Arkansans.
Tourism continues to be the number our number two economy driver in the state. That's an important part of our responsibility as our department's role is more important than ever, especially when we look at the economy to make sure that we're driving that, bringing guests in to keep those tax dollars increasing. Now, you had an accessibility imperative any way dynamic at work here to make Arkansas's attractions, particularly in in the outdoor arena, more accessible to those to whom that accessibility has been denied in previous years decades.
And progress report. Sure. So Arkansas State Parks has always worked within the Arkansas or the Americans with Disabilities Act to make sure that our facilities meet or exceed those standards. But one of the goals that we had as a team in the Arkansas State Parks leadership was to really find some opportunities to expand that. We saw some other states across the nation and state park systems that were doing really good things to invite and extend the opportunities for those with disabilities.
We wanted to join in that. We we built a small committee, an ad hoc committee that includes many partners, including Representative Mayberry from the Arkansas legislator legislature. And in working with that subcommittee, we came up with some ideas of ways we can make some improvements.
We've made improvements to our website, and we're doing other things as well to to make sure our facilities meet or exceed those standards. One program specifically is we've introduced an action track chair program at Localized State Park. We partnered with Accessibility across Arkansas, a nonprofit that reached out to us and had some ideas. We partnered with them. We received some grants to get these action track chairs. We made the trails more accessible.
But these action track chairs are, if you could imagine, A, this is not your usual wheelchair. This is not no. If you imagine, like the tracks that you see on a tank, so to speak, the type of tread that you see on these are applied to a mobility device or a chair and allow those with disabilities to experience the trails like anyone else. And the progress on that. So it is open. You can make reservations now at Localized State Park. We've received one track chair, now we have two in the works.
Accessibility across Arkansas was received an additional grant. We've we've purchased one chair, received an additional grant, and we hope to expand this program. Arkansas will soon be a quarter of a millennium old.
So and you've got a 250 commission that's that you're instrumental in getting ready for that observance celebration. Mm hmm. That's right. Semi quincentennial is the phrase for the 250th anniversary of our great nation. So national Congress passed a bill or act to to promote this opportunity. Many of us remember the bicentennial of 17 or 1976. And so this will celebrate July 4th, 2026 will be that anniversary We have formed a commission.
Governor Sanders, through an executive order, created a commission. I'm chairing that commission. I'm proud to be a part of this commission and work is underway. We've had two meetings so far, and through those meetings we're working on branding ideas, internal structure and things like that, some committees.
But we look forward to make announcements in the future about plans for 2026. Well, that was Arkansas was wasn't actually the nation's we're. That's right a few years away from our 200th anyway.
That's true. That's. Is this going to be something that everybody can pitch in or get and appreciate it when it rolls around? It has to be. It's you know, I see how well this program will align with the division of Arkansas Heritage. You can't think about the Arkansas archives and some of our museums and locations and programs within the division that align so well with this. But this will be a community effort.
We'll have to partner with the counties and the cities across the state for all of the events and activities that go along with this. A little preview is that we heard from Crystal Bridges up in Bentonville and they want to partner with us on a 250 exhibit showcasing art and artifacts that showcase America's history as well as Arkansas history. Sounds like a party.
It's going to be fun. Secretary Lewis, thanks very much for coming in. Come back soon. Yes, sir. And give us an update. Thank you. And we'll be right back.
A better educated workforce, a more sophisticated citizenry, sophisticated with a smaller, less meaning, the reading and reasoning skills necessary to take on good paying positions and bring more of them to Arkansas. Higher education is usually regarded as foundational to that end. So the news about autumn enrollment is more than merely satisfying at several post-secondary institutions.
The increase is startling. The president of one of those institutions is with us now, Houston Davis of the University of Central Arkansas at Conaway. Mr. President, thank you once again for coming in.
Steve, good to be here. Were you at all surprised? I am not surprised that some of the numbers are up because we're in a bit of a sugar spike right now in terms of students coming out of high school. We have about two years where that will will yield some bigger numbers. But the focus that UK and some of the other schools have placed on unmet need, trying to help families to change the conversation about how can they pay for school. I'm not at all surprised to see that that's paying off.
I think UK has been very proud to be sort of leading that conversation and a part of something that it's a bit of a of of a wave that's taking over the state. That's a good thing. Well, in terms of households, you're not put a finer point on it. You're changing the conversation by changing the economics of it, right? You have a lot of families.
I think we were point out last year that they just think that the cost of college makes it unattainable for them. They worry about debt, and rightly so. I mean, if you're if you're poor or not, a lot of disposable income, it can be a insurmountable task thinking about that. But changing the narrative to be able to paint a picture for how a family cannot take on debt or you don't have to take out loans, you don't have to put down a credit card to be able to pay for mandatory fees. That's at the heart of see a commitment and certainly some of the other efforts that changes the dinner table conversations for families to say that, hey, if higher ed, as you said, is a foundational element of our future and our economic future in the state, then let's remove that debt argument.
Okay. The sheer numbers for UK in terms of the freshman enrollment, we just a little while ago, we have 2183 freshmen this fall. That is a 26% increase. 765 of those are benefiting from U.S. a commitment. We think that that growth is some of that is fueled by, you see a commitment.
I think about 200 of those additional students can be explained by that. And then some of that is just the general momentum that the university has had. Yeah. A couple of examples from other campuses. For example, Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
The Fayetteville enrollment, of course, is just setting record. But from ASU, the creation of the promise plus scholarship and increase in our social media marketing campaigns and the collaboration of faculty and staff into a total approach to recruitment are a few of the key reasons for the very significant enrollment increase from the University of Arkansas to Little Rock. A similar assessment of similar growth. The scholarship initiatives have been key to reducing costs for students and families. Last year, you, a Little Rock, launched the Trojan Guarantee, a scholarship covering full tuition for Pell Grant. Pell Grant Eligible Students program based on half of scholarship introduced in 2020, offer significant discounts tuition students regardless of income.
So again, it's the economic and this is true also of of of private institutions. It's correct that the increases rely on for example in Batesville I think finding a way to break down those barriers to cost. I think Commissioner Warden and the Arkansas Division of Higher Education, they've pointed out that the number of students attempting post-secondary, whether it be public universities, private universities or two year schools, have gone down from 51% to 42%. A lot of our conversation at the policy level in the state of Arkansas has been about how can we reverse that trend? And you've got to think that that financial barrier and the cost considerations are one of the primary reasons that students and families weren't looking to cast their lot with us.
So I do hope that this is a reversal of what has been a very negative trend over the last decade. We need to get that going back in the right direction. Well, enrolling is one thing, retaining is another, without a doubt. So, yeah, I mean, these numbers, to what extent, if any, I mean, to be cynical, but are these numbers illusory? Yeah, I had somebody ask, is this record freshman enrollment in record growth for. It certainly is since 2015 since we raise the admission standards that you see a this is by far the largest class. And I've pointed out that even with you see a commitment program are denied admission stack was up 19% this year.
So we were not going to walk away. I cannot speak for my other colleagues at the other universities as to whether or not they made any changes to their admission standards. But our focus has to be on if a student sees that see is academically the right fit for them.
And I stress all the time that not every student we're not the right fit for everybody. But if we academically are in their plans and in their dreams, we're going to make certain with you see a commitment that financial barriers, not the reason that they don't come, but once they get there, that compact with them is to make certain that we think they've got the potential to graduate and we need to meet their effort in their work ethic to make certain they've got the supports to be able to do that. So what retention is everything. Well, okay, in addition to the financial I don't want to call them incentives, incentives, but the reworking of the fiscal conversation anyway, is there a commensurate increase in retention? Student development. Academic development.
Yeah, actually, I was meeting with some of our students the other day. They were asking about what impact that U.S. commitment has had on enrollment. And I told them, I don't know. It certainly has gotten students to come to us, but it's going to be really important that we make certain that our academic tutoring center, we need to make certain that our academic support services are commiserate with that growth. We need to make certain that students know where to turn always as president.
If I see any freshmen on campus at the six week mark of the fall semester and they can't tell me that they're involved, engaged with something beyond just their classes, then I know that they're at risk. So us making certain that our early alert systems, especially for our first generation college students, we have to be very intentional for reaching out to them and connecting them up to those services. You can't just assume that they'll find them.
You got to be intentional about putting them in their way. There is still inflation and it affects everything that your higher education as well. Are we are we incurring obligations, debt obligations? Are we being fiscally responsible, not just your institution, but higher ed as a rule in Arkansas where we incurring obligations? Well, we have to pay the piper later. Yeah, there's a national conversation and all the rating agencies, Moody's, S&P, Fitch are really fearful for higher education as a sector in the future because they're concerned about a key statistic of net tuition revenue. They're seeing that too many schools are giving away over scholarship, being over, granting to where there is no money coming in to actual pay for operational obligations. I think as I sat here last year, I was telling you about, you see a commitment and I was confounding and still confounding higher education colleagues because we're doing it with no more scholarship money than we've done in the past.
It's all about our Our Ally program. And I won't get into that on your show today. But what we've done the last seven years to right size, our net tuition revenue last year was $11.8 million. After you see a commitment is implemented this year, our net tuition revenues, 14.9 million, we're really pleased to see that going up by 23%. And I know that Moody's, our rating agency, was very pleased to see that in the pipeline, so that paying attention and for private schools, that's been true for two decades.
It's been one of the challenges and it is what's getting into the debt spiral for those schools. Public schools are starting to feel the pinch. And with our faculty and our staff, we're talking more and more our budget one on one sessions about net tuition revenue, because it's everything about positioning you to have operational health as you go forward, not just buying a class of students. That's not the way to be able to do things over the long term.
Well, another factor being considered by the rating agencies is the Bond house earnings excuse me, the bond agencies anyway, as well as the board rooms and the chancellors and presidents office. And that's the demographic trends across the country. The birth rate, for example.
But we continue to have to make capital improvements on campuses and structuring in fiscal obligations for just M.A. That adds a little pressure to the to the situation. It does.
We've we've talked about in our oral program it can't be this or that. I mean, we have to pay attention to costs for students, net costs. We have to pay attention to deferred maintenance. We cannot allow that to happen.
We have to take care of our people. We make certain to be able to retain our talent. But we've we have to be looking one, three, five, ten years down the road. You mentioned the demographics, the sugar spike that we're in right now.
I mean, these these two classes that are coming through, we've seen that working its way through as we've been dealing with the enrollment cliff. But you can look in FY 27 flat, 2829, the number of students coming to K 12 drop off precipitous only when a nerd out for a second this year, first graders and second graders are two standard deviation smaller than first and second grade classes in the last 20 years. I mean, that's what we're going toward. Our much, much smaller numbers of students come into K-12 as we look out for the next ten years in the UK. Just for your program, the UK commitment so far, what's been the academic upshot of it? Look, we're actually tickled. We saw a statistic this morning.
First of all, we knew that the incoming GPA of those 765 students is 3.6, and that's right in line with our all freshmen GPA last year. Their ACT score of 22.1 is right in line with all freshmen last year.
And again, we weren't surprised by that because we were not changing emission standards. We knew these were academically capable students, that there was some financial barrier that kept them from matriculating to our school. We feel very, very good about making certain that those students have the academic supports that are in place. We have to make certain that we're following them.
They still are going to have life challenges and they some financial pressure put them in the position to be eligible for U.S. commitment. We need to make certain that we follow them not just as they begin this journey, but we think about how can we mitigate those financial pressures for them going forward. I have spoken with some in higher education in recent weeks who are regarding the January legislative session with fear and anxiety. At a minimum, the administration has said it's going to take a as indicated, is going to take my words, not a really new hard look at higher ed. What are your thoughts? Well, I mean, no, no, no. I mean, really not.
I had actually one of our faculty asked me that question of the day and I told them no because of what we've been doing with our oral law program, because of the efficiencies. I'm proud of the fact that we're the only university or college in the state that has zero low producing academic programs on ADHD is low producing programs list. I think that if I had a high number of those, I think that I would worry about I don't know where that debate or that policy work is going to go, but I would think any school that has a lot of inefficiencies that are going to be glaring red flags, I think that would be a concern. I think that just like every year, every session, every every line, it will make certain to take a look at, all right, here's the lay of the land and can you see a big position to thrive at whatever those changes are? But because of our efficiencies, because of what we've done with program Focus, because of what we done with things like our Arkansas Coding Academy and our Arkansas Aviation Academy, or do you our aviation academy, those are programs that are workforce oriented. I expect that we'll see a lot from the administration of that.
What can the universities and the colleges do to make certain to position programs that are workforce oriented? I think we're checking boxes all along the way already, so I'm pretty confident going into it. But, you know, will meet the task, whatever it is. Got to interfere because we are simply out of time.
U.C. Davis, president of UK, thank you for coming in. Thank you. And come back soon. Always. And that does it for us for this week. As always, we thank you for watching and see you next week.
Support for Arkansas Week provided by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Arkansas Times and Little Rock Public Radio.
2024-09-13 11:51
