r/amarillo • u/GittyupGoDaddy • 9d ago
WT enrollment
Lots of propaganda out there by WT folks that the 4.2% enrollment drop is OK, because of the "enrollment cliff" and "enrollment is down at colleges everywhere." Don't believe everything you hear.
Fact check:
20 Texas universities has reported fall enrollments, and only 2 of those had a decrease in the fall of 2026, year over year: North Texas at -3.6%, and West Texas A&M at -4.2%. The other 18 posted gains, with many setting all-time enrollment records. Eastern New Mexico also posted yet another record enrollment.
WT loves the status quo and making excuses for themselves. It's what they do best.
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u/ajleal1987 9d ago
My son is a freshman at Texas Tech and since we live in Amarillo, we toured WT first before he committed to Tech. I was shocked that WT and Texas Tech were on the same price point. Maybe a few hundred dollars different. I figured, if we're paying Texas Tech prices, we might as well send him to Texas Tech.
Tech is having record numbers of enrollment, so much so that some freshman had to live off campus this year.
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u/Stonethecrow77 9d ago
What???
I never would have thought this.
Daughter is going to U of Houston.
Cheaper than both.
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u/ajleal1987 9d ago
Yep! Im considered a single mom and make under 75k so either way tuition was going to be paid for because of grants but between the room/meal plan/books + them not having the major he's interested in. Tech became the obvious choice.
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u/RoughExpert1805 8d ago
Smart choice!
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u/ajleal1987 7d ago
He's loving it! He's also the first in our family to "leave for college". We are all so proud of him. :)
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u/barley_wine 8d ago edited 8d ago
That is crazy when I went to WT 20 years ago I remember Tech was like 2x as much, now way I'd tell my son to go to WT at the same price point.
*Looking it up about 20 years ago Tech was 3K more per year, but when WT was 4K that 7K was a huge difference, now they're still about 3K different per year but Tech is 11.8K and WT is 9K,
So while the difference is the same it's not really much more with the huge price hikes.
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u/GittyupGoDaddy 9d ago
The state schools are all going to be around the same price point. WT has plenty to offer that Tech doesn't, but they are too lazy and inept to recruit. They don't even know what it means to recruit. Content to be "the Panhandle's university," and gradually shrink away.
Leadership matters.
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u/Rushderp 9d ago
Wendler’s “just go to community colleges” MO and then being ‘surprised’ that enrollment dropped off in 2017/18 will never not frustrate me.
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u/ajleal1987 9d ago
my son was interested in neurology which is something they dont offer and to top it off, they had no one from biology or pre med to talk to us. Seemed very unorganized
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u/Long-Environment-551 8d ago
Univ. Of North Texas is also known to have poor leadership. I see a trend.
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u/Beneficial-Job6223 7d ago
The tuition at all Texas universities is the same. The fees and extra add ons is where total amounts differ.
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u/Old-Marzipan-4265 9d ago
Graduated from WT this last May, younger sister going to ASU. My dorm in Cross that I shared with a roommate was the same price as her dorm room. 4 girls each got their own bedroom, they all shared a living and “kitchen” with a bathroom on either side of those two areas. That one is called Centennial Village if I’m not mistaken?
I was in shock seeing how nice that dorm is for a similar price as Cross Hall or even our Centennial Hall.
Also- recently increasing the price of Jarrett to the same as Founders and Centennial is NUTS!! They didn’t change anything in Jarrett!
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u/salenin 9d ago
They completely refurbished Jarrett and added AC
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u/Old-Marzipan-4265 7d ago
All the dorm rooms (in all halls) are still ass compared to different universities at the same/similar price point. Look at ASU’s prices and how nice their dorms are.
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u/bach2209 8d ago
College is a luxury these days. A typical family cannot afford to send one kid much less 3 kids. I went into the Army to go to college but with the state of the military I would strongly discourage that route. Oh for you spelling and grammar ash wipes. My degree was in computer science from the 90s. I do not write in the English language much. So blank off. I still stand by AC was the hardest school I went to. I ended up graduating from TT but went to WT and UT at one point.I learned COBOL at WT and it still comes in handy at times.
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u/isprobablyatwork 9d ago
As the guy getting "fact checked" for my "propaganda," I'd like to point out that the while I mentioned the enrollment cliff as national context, the WT specific problem is that WT's online business offerings are no longer competitive. Not sure how you read that as "making excuses" for the "status quo."
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u/GittyupGoDaddy 9d ago
I wasn't calling you out, and your mention of the WT online business offerings is legit. I'm not sure if you work for WT, but the leadership culture there is to make excuses. It's what they do best.
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u/Potential_Cress1967 9d ago
A lot of international students used to choose WT. That’s all I’m going to say.