For this year, Mississippi State University has grown by nearly 800 students to once again make it the state’s largest. A total of 17,824 students, up 4.6 percent, enrolled on the Starkville campus and at satellite campuses across the state. That pushed MSU ahead of the University of Mississippi, which had briefly led the numbers count due to growing enrollment on the Oxford campus and in myriad programs at University Medical Center in Jackson. Ole Miss grew, too, to 17,601 students, including 2,312 in Jackson. The number is up over 2007-2008 by 278 students.

The third-largest state university also grew. Enrollment at all programs of the Hattiesburg-centered University of Southern Mississippi was up 1.4 percent to 16,016 students.

Enrollment fell at all five other state universities, including Alcorn, nearest to Vicksburg. There, student numbers were down almost 13 percent. Administrators called the fall transitory, saying Alcorn and two other historically black schools, Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State could expect to see enrollments rise in the future. Delta State University in Cleveland and Mississippi University for Women in Columbus also saw declines. At MUW, President Claudia Limbert has included making the university’s name gender-neutral as part of her plan to reverse the enrollment slide.

Many arguments could be made to explain the numbers. For one, while there was an overall increase, the effect of continued tuition increases can’t be denied. Indeed, to its credit, the state Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning has performed studies showing how middle-class Mississippians are increasingly disadvantaged by the higher costs it imposes year after year. Mississippi State University now tells students to expect to spend a minimum of $16,797 per year or a total of almost $70,000 for a bachelor’s degree.

For another, the statistics could reflect a higher reliance on community colleges or specific vocational training being sought by today’s high school graduates.

A third insight might simply be that bigger schools are in vogue right now and smaller schools are seen as less fashionable.

Education is the state’s largest investment and is the largest expense most families face for their children. If for no other reason than that, trends are worth monitoring.