Iowa State’s enrollment is down about 1 percent from last fall.

The university enrolled 24,431 students this semester, compared with 24,728 for the fall 1994 term; a loss of 297 students. ISU officials say the drop is significant.

“It all adds up,” said Tom Thielen, vice president for student affairs. “[The decrease] was a little bigger than we had planned; it was about twice as large.”

A declining enrollment brings budgetary concerns to the forefront.

If all of the 297 students lost would have paid in-state tuition, the university stands to collect about $700,000 less this year. The Office of Admissions estimates that in-state students pay about $2,400 in tuition annually. This year’s budget only calls for about an $88,000 drop in tuition intake.

Last year, a shortfall of 384 students from 1993 cost the university about $1.5 million in lost tuition dollars.

John Anderson, interim director for university relations, said: “Certainly there will be financial ramifications.” Anderson said budget adjustments fall under ISU President Martin Jischke’s jurisdiction. Jischke was unavailable for comment Monday.

Graduate students accounted for much of the decrease. This year, there are 4,223 graduate students enrolled at the university, compared with 4,416 a year ago, a drop of 193 students.

“We believe much of the decrease can be attributed to a relatively strong economy that has resulted in more job opportunities for those who have just received bachelor degrees,” Thielen said. “New graduates are less likely to go on to graduate school if they can find jobs.”

There are 20,208 undergraduate students enrolled this year, a half percent drop from last year’s 20,312. But enrollment of new undergraduates direct from Iowa high schools increased this year by 100 students. This fall, 71 percent of ISU students are Iowa residents, the same percentage as last year.

Thielen said this year’s enrollment figures fall short of the university’s goal.

“It’s been about at this level for the past couple of years, but we had hoped to stabilize our student body at around 25,000,” he said. “We’re looking at the way we recruit students and the message we send to them about Iowa State.”

Thielen said competition for new students has been “very, very tough.” But this year, declining enrollment is apparently unique to ISU. “I’ve been told that Iowa will be up a couple of hundred students and so will UNI.”

An admissions official at the University of Iowa said its enrollment figures would not be available until next month. Northern Iowa’s figures are expected to be released sometime today.

ISU’s minority student population also declined slightly from last fall. This fall there are 1,625 minority students (African Americans, Asians or Pacific Islanders, Hispanics and American Indians or Alaskan natives) enrolled, or 6.7 percent of the student body. Minorities made up 6.9 percent of the student body last fall.

By college, Design, Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences have fewer students than last fall. Agriculture, Business, Family and Consumer Sciences and Veterinary Medicine posted modest gains, while Education stayed the same. All ISU colleges have fewer graduate students this year.