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KIRKSVILLE, MO -- A private school education at public school prices.  That’s part of the Truman State University experience.  As Missouri’s only highly selective university, Truman officials believe their school is an exceptional institution that can only accept phenomenal students.

After a drop in total enrollment, some critics believe Truman could ease admission requirements to create student growth.

Vice President for Enrollment Management Regina Morin says that's not the direction Truman will follow.  She says admission requirements must remain high to maintain Truman’s unique atmosphere.

"There could be criticism, but the other side of that is we're providing a Truman experience that isn't possible at public prices anywhere else in the state and really I would say it's not merit across the country either," said Morin.

Morin says Truman isn't focused on being a large institution. They’re determined to be highly selective and produce exceptional graduates.

The increase of graduates has played a role in total student enrollment.  But, according to Morin, fewer international students is a major factor for the smaller numbers.

According to Morin there are 60 fewer international students than last year.  One impact she says is the world economy.  Another is Truman’s dependence on the country of Nepal.

"I was at another institution at a small private school and we saw the same phenomenon there with Nepal and other public and private universities in Missouri and the Mid-West.  It's as if the Mid-West has just gotten on the map with Nepalese students.  And so we've all seen an increase in the numbers.  It's just an interesting thing. I can't really explain it,” says Morin.

Morin says Truman has seen a 4% increase of U.S. freshmen and a 9% increase of grad students. She says those numbers include a large number of Missouri students.

While numbers are an important part of the university's make-up, Morin believes Truman must stay highly selective and that growing to become a large university isn't their mission.  Morin told us that Truman must not open the door for just anyone to attend.

“We didn't ever plan on being a huge institution.  So when we see we're going to graduate more than 100 students than typical, we're really not doing anything different at the front-end because we are marketing to that very specific highly prepared student and that pool is only so big," says Morin.