Kent State University’s main campus sits on nearly 1,000 acres, enrolls about 25,530 students and employs nearly 4,400 full-time workers.But despite the robust footprint in Northeast Ohio, the school is looking to go beyond state lines to help secure its future. To do that, the university is currently hiring for its first permanent director of national recruitment. That person will be charged with finding students nationwide, selling them on Kent State and getting them into the university’s Ohio classrooms. It’s part of a push to double down on their national recruitment and brand awareness efforts. Collin Palmer, Kent State’s associate vice president for enrollment management, said the market for enrolling college students is “incredibly, incredibly competitive.” “We know that we have to go beyond Northeast Ohio,” Palmer said. Kent State joins Ohio University, Miami University in national recruitment efforts The majority of Ohio’s 14 four-year public universities are facing financial challenges and demographic shifts. Some of Kent State’s four-year public peers already employ similar strategies. Ohio University and Miami University, for example, each employ recruitment professionals in other states and regions. And outside colleges are coming into Ohio, too. Big-name schools such as the University of Alabama and the University of Kentucky have recruiters stationed in the state. Kent State already employs their own recruiters stationed in a handful of other areas, including Western Pennsylvania, Charlotte, North Carolina and Chicago. Palmer said this new national role will work in tandem with a director of regional recruiting focused on Ohio. How the events of May 4th can help differentiate Kent StateThe overwhelming majority of students at the university’s main campus in Kent – 80% – are from Ohio. Many of them may already know about the school’s history related to the events on May 4, 1970, where four students were killed and nine wounded when the Ohio National Guard opened fire during an anti-Vietnam protest. The university puts great effort into remembering the events through special programs and through its on-campus May 4th Visitors Center. That, coupled with what Palmer calls the “really special” town of Kent and its relationship with students, could be part of the sales pitch to out-of-staters. “Although we’re not the state’s flagship [university], there’s definitely still opportunities to have the big campus feel, with the resources, the pride, and the opportunities that come along with that,” he said. University officials also believe there are several more niche programs that differentiate it on a national level. That list includes fashion design, architecture, and aeronautics.Most of the state’s current out-of-state students are enrolled in one of those offerings, according to Palmer.No numeric out-of-state targets to hit Palmer said the school is not setting a target number of non-Ohio students to enroll. “I think it’s hard to define what success will be in the future in an industry that’s changing so dramatically, and in an area of the country where demographics are changing,” he said. Instead, he said officials are asking themselves other questions to gauge their progress: Are we building relationships? Are we engaging with out-of-state students and school counselors at higher levels? Are we encouraging more students from those areas to visit our campus? Palmer said he and his team will monitor and balance these efforts with other limitations over time.And that, he added, is the framing he thinks most admissions leaders use “with just about anything.”The post Ohio colleges — including Kent State — are stepping up national recruitment to fill their classrooms appeared first on Signal Akron.First published by Signal Akron.