Lessons from AASCU: YSU’s journey to online graduate expansion

At the recent AASCU Summer Meeting, Youngstown State University (YSU) offered a transparent, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to grow graduate enrollment in today’s competitive higher education landscape. The session, “Meeting the Moment: Diversifying Enrollment with Graduate Expansion,” wasn’t just about metrics and models. It was a candid conversation about resistance, risk, and ultimately, results, led by YSU Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Jennifer Pintar and Risepoint SVP of University Partnerships Mary Shepard. 

YSU’s reality: A crowded market and a shrinking pool 

YSU, a regional public university in Ohio, sits between two major cities—Pittsburgh and Cleveland—and operates in one of the most saturated higher education markets in the country. With 199 institutions across the state, standing out is no small feat. YSU had entered the online market themselves, but by 2018, it was clear that traditional strategies weren’t enough to find qualified candidates and reverse declining enrollment. 

That’s when the university started looking for a partner with the infrastructure and experience to help YSU scale its online graduate offerings. The goal wasn’t just to grow numbers—it was to diversify the student body and expand their reach beyond Ohio. 

From partnership to practice: Building a scalable model 

YSU and Risepoint started working together in 2019, but this wasn’t a typical vendor-client relationship—it was a strategic collaboration grounded in shared goals and mutual accountability. According to Mary Shepard, “YSU brought its mission rooted in providing affordable, high-quality education, experienced faculty, and a vision for sustainable growth. Risepoint brought its marketing expertise and upfront investment, student engagement and retention services, and instructional design support to the table.” 

Together, we built a model that prioritized what today’s graduate students care about most: affordability, flexibility, and relevance.  

• Tuition is accessible, averaging around $13,560.  

• Programs are designed with six start dates per year and 7-week course formats to accommodate working professionals.  

• Curricula are focused on high-demand fields like business, healthcare, and education. 

But what truly set the model apart was its consistency

Every online course follows a standardized structure, making it easier for students to navigate and succeed. Instructional designers worked closely with faculty—many of whom were new to online teaching—to ensure quality and alignment. As Dr. Jennifer Pintar explained, “If the students don’t find this process easy, they’re going to leave. When students are taking 7-week courses, they don’t have three weeks to figure out where each different professor is putting their syllabus, assignments, and lectures. So, it was very important that the setup for the online courses looked exactly the same.” 

The human touch was just as important

Risepoint didn’t just attract qualified students—they followed up, stayed engaged, and helped students persist. “We didn’t have the financial wherewithal to have people work evenings and weekends for programs that we were hoping worked,” admits Dr. Pintar. “But that’s when working adults who are attracted to these programs are available. Risepoint had the ability to see someone who applies online or asks for information online and immediately reach out to them by phone, email, or text. Whatever the potential student prefers.” 

“YSU brought its mission rooted in providing affordable, high-quality education, experienced faculty, and a vision for sustainable growth. Risepoint brought its marketing expertise and upfront investment, student engagement and retention services, and instructional design support to the table.”

Mary Shepard, SVP of University Partnerships, Risepoint

Internal resistance and the path to buy-in 

No transformation comes without tension. One of the most revealing parts of the session was the discussion around the faculty’s resistance. Dr. Pintar shared the story of a professor who initially protested, saying, “You’re ruining academic freedom.” But then he realized that unionized faculty were the ones setting the standards, that he liked working with the Risepoint instructional designer, and most importantly, that he was seeing the impact on his students. Eventually, he became one of the model’s biggest advocates asking, “Why don’t we do this for the rest of our university?”  

This shift didn’t happen overnight. YSU started with the education department faculty who were eager partners due to their declining enrollment. Weekly meetings, transparency, and a commitment to shared governance helped build trust.  Faculty were supported, not sidelined, and over time, many began to see the value in consistent, student-centered course design. 

The results: Growth, retention, and cultural change

The numbers speak for themselves: 

• Today, the partnership has scaled to include 32 graduate programs with enrollments growing steadily year over year.  

• Over 50% of YSU’s graduate students are enrolled in Risepoint-supported programs.  

Retention rates for those online programs is 83%—higher than both the national average for primarily online institutions and YSU’s on-campus rate.  

But perhaps the most powerful outcome was cultural: departments that once operated in silos began collaborating, and faculty who once resisted became champions of the new model and started adopting best practices throughout campus. In fact, Dr. Pintar now has faculty coming to her asking for their courses to be considered as Risepoint-supported programs. 

One student’s story, shared during the session, best captured the impact. At a recent College of Health and Human Services graduation ceremony, the graduation speaker—a first-generation nursing student—raved about the support he received at YSU and how that helped him get to where he is now. When describing his relationship with his Risepoint student success specialist he said, “She would call me all the time and make sure that I was registered. I was ready to give up so many times. But Linda kept calling me and telling me why this was a good idea for me to continue.” 

Lessons for other institutions 

YSU’s journey offers a blueprint for other institutions—but it’s not a plug-and-play solution. Their success was built on honest conversations, a willingness to change, and a relentless focus on student experience. Key takeaways include: 

• Change management is essential. Weekly staff check-ins and faculty engagement helped overcome resistance. 

• Consistency matters. Standardized course design reduces friction and improves outcomes. 

• Data drives decisions. Market research and student feedback shaped every step of the process. 

Final thoughts: A model built on mission 

YSU’s brand promise—high-quality, low-cost education—remained the north star throughout this transformation. And the role Risepoint played wasn’t just operational; it was mission-aligned. It was a story of how two organizations met the moment together to expand and diversify graduate enrollment.