Domestic student enrollment projected to increase next year, CMU officials say
Central Michigan University President Neil MacKinnon gives his report during the Board of Trustees Meeting held in Bovee University Center on Thursday, April 23, 2026. (CM-Life | Cristin Coppess)
In its April meeting, the Central Michigan University Board of Trustees discussed enrollment, student mental health and facilities projects ahead of impending budget cuts.
In his report, CMU President Neil MacKinnon said university officials project domestic student enrollment will rise for the third year in a row.
The announcement was later echoed by Trustee Regine Beauboeuf, who chairs the Enrollment, Retention and Student Success committee. She said the increase is expected to be the largest year-over-year increase in domestic enrollment since the 2009-2010 academic year.
MacKinnon said there has been some early success with the newly implemented strategic enrollment management plan, which includes 34 different initiatives.
However, steep drops in international student enrollment continue to place a financial burden on CMU.
The president announced the university would be undergoing budget cuts in March. Leading faculty across the campus were asked to assess their divisions to find areas to reduce spending.
In his recent State of the University Address, MacKinnon named the total fiscal impact from the drop to be about $4.5 million. The sum has since changed as officials factored in the final numbers from the spring semester.
“We're still kind of finalizing the exact amount of the cut,” MacKinnon told Central Michigan Life. “There's some other factors that are beyond our control, like state support. We won't know the state budget until June, but we know off the mark that we certainly have a loss of $10 million in revenue from international students.”
He said that any cuts will not be made across the board, and it's not yet clear which areas will be most impacted.
“We're looking unit by unit, program by program,” MacKinnon explained. “When the deans and others submitted their proposed areas that they could cut, it wasn't just a number on a spreadsheet, they included a narrative. We're trying to make decisions that are truly student-centered.”
Concern for student mental health
In the time allotted for public comment, CMU sophomore Aims Coston shared her concerns about how the university supports students struggling with mental health. Her comment was inspired by a recent incident involving social media threats.
Coston said she feels that, despite what resources are available, student mental health is not as big a campus priority as it should be.
“It takes a very long time to get into the counseling center, and only allowing three times you can attend isn't helpful,” Coston said. “Some students cannot afford to go to therapy or get better help. At this university, it often feels like grades are more important than mental health, and that shouldn't be the case.”
Later on, Trustee Sharon Heath reported that the demand for on-campus mental health support is rising.
“Students' mental health challenges remain significant as reflected by continued high numbers of counseling, appointments and urgent cases,” Heath said. “To put that into perspective, 943 students engaged in 3441 counseling sessions this year, including 119 urgent appointments.”
Heath went on to say that mental health and suicidal ideation are the most common issues addressed by Residence Life personnel. More coordinated efforts to provide students with support are underway.
After the meeting concluded, Denise Williams-Mallett, the Board chair, applauded Coston for coming forward.
"What she's saying is spot on or in line with what was shared in our committee reports yesterday,” Mallett said. “I'm glad she had the conversation, [and] what that does is put a laser focus on the work that we are doing, plan to do, and will continue to do to uplift students. And we've made the investments to do that.”
Finance and facilities management
The Board approved a motion to begin contractual conversations with Clark Construction to manage the construction of the new CMED facility in Saginaw.
Trustee Edward Plawecki, the committee's chair, voted no on the proposal, following on his past promise to vote against any initiative supporting the decision to relocate CMED.
“Please do not infer my vote in any way reflects on Clark construction,” Plawecki said. “I'm sure they'll do a great job. My vote is based on the comments that I made back in November of 25.”
The board also approved motions enabling the president to set tuition rates for CMU medical students, renewing a university lease in Lansing.
The Board will meet next in June, where they will consider the President’s proposed changes to the university’s budget for approval.
