Sonoma State has seen a progressive decline in enrollment rates over the last three years, as enrollments dropped more than 6%. In response, the administration is actively developing a strategic enrollment plan to address the dropping numbers, including altering the current appearance of Sonoma State’s logos and overall brand. 

“The school is currently going through a rebranding,” Vice President of Strategic Communication, Paul Gullixson, explains, “this may include changing our logo slightly, the typography we use, and maybe some other aspects of our design. The school colors, official seal, name, and mascot will remain the same.” 

Administration is planning on interviewing students, alumni, and faculty to help formulate a new perception of Sonoma State, and the University is partnering with an advertising agency from Santa Rosa, The Engine is Red, to freshen the brand in a variety of ways. 

Some students seem to appreciate the idea of a new-look for SSU. Jamie Dennis, a second-year undergraduate student at the university, says, “Change is exciting, and I think it would promote enthusiasm amongst students.” 

The University has been quick to react to dropping enrollment rates, and is taking a proactive approach to boost demand. By creating a new strategic enrollment plan and hiring an advertising agency from Santa Rosa, the school seems to be responding promptly and creatively to a budding issue.

Sonoma State experienced a decline in enrollment over the last few years, but this is following a decade of significant growth. The student population hit its highest in 2015, and has been steadily decreasing since.

In 2017, 9,223 students enrolled at Sonoma State, but by 2019, the student population dropped to approximately 8,649. According to Gullixson, this is not a unique situation, as “many CSU campuses have been experiencing dropping enrollment rates recently.”  While true that other campuses are seeing declines, the CSU system experienced less than a half-percent loss in the same period, according to Cal State records.

San Jose State’s enrollment has remained relatively stable, with approximately 33,000 students each year, but other schools are experiencing significant declines. 

According to Humboldt State’s records, 6,280 students enrolled for the spring 2020 semester, representing a loss of 1,731 enrollments since the spring of 2018, a 21.6% decline.  

The downward trend over the last few years could be due to demographics and/or socioeconomic reasons. “There are fewer students applying to college across the board,” the Dean of Arts and Humanities at Sonoma State, Dr. Hollis Robbins, explains. 

Dr. Robbins acknowledged the financial implications by saying, “enrollment matters to the university’s financial health. In Arts & Humanities, we want to have enough students to offer elective courses in art, theatre arts, dance, music, and film. In most cases it isn’t financially viable to run a class with six students, for example.” Financing for the school is primarily tuition-based, so dropping enrollment rates directly affects the number and quality of programs offered, and limits how much is spent on students. 

University records show that second-year students represent only 16% of the student population, while first-years represent 24%, indicating a significant loss. Sonoma State officials recognize this as an area of concern, and are focusing on retention and recruitment to bolster numbers.

In an effort to more effectively recruit new students, Provost of Sonoma State University, Lisa Vollendorf, explains how the school is improving transfer students’ experiences. “We have removed transfer level impaction to enable transfer students to come here even after just taking one or a few classes at community colleges. We have a new Santa Rosa Junior College wine program that allows students to get an articulated four-year degree, which is fantastic.”

The school also plans to address the technological hurdles that students face when using the University’s website. “We are working on improving messaging to reflect Sonoma State’s highlights,” Paul Gullixson says. “We want people to know that Sonoma State is a good school.” 

Dr. Vollendorf summed up the administration’s beliefs by saying, “overall, we are very excited about what Sonoma State offers students in terms of academic experience, extra curricular activities, on-campus housing options, and overall academic excellence.”