Estimates presented this week to the Utah Board of Regents show enrollment of full-time students will grow an average of 3 percent annually, an average of 4,422 students per year, over the next 20 years.

The numbers are only estimates, but higher education administrators find them useful for planning purposes.

"We use [projections] as a guide to help us prepare and plan for the future," said Amanda Covington, spokeswoman for Utah System of Higher Education.

Regents last year approved the model for projecting growth as an extension of its statewide higher education strategic planning effort.

In addition to projecting long-term growth, the model has helped higher education officials quantify immediate issues they must address.

They know that static enrollment in the near term means they must continue to recruit and retain minority students who aren't traditionally well-represented in higher education but make up an ever-growing percentage of the overall population.

Covington said the model "lives and breathes" and will be updated every year.

"We want to ensure as demographics change we are meeting the needs [of Utahns] and graduate fundamentally self-sustainable adults," she said.

rorellana@sltrib.com