COLUMBUS — Mississippi University for Women president Jim Borsig says with a focus on student recruitment almost anything is on the table.

Borsig said in a civic club speech this week that includes discussions about reinstating sports and trying to appeal more to male students.

Student enrollment remains heavily tipped toward women, with men making up only 17 percent of the student population.

The Commercial Dispatch reports that Borsig doesn't see that as a hindrance to recruitment because he doesn't see men and women in competition.

"The women's mission is a mission for MUW, but it's not the only mission," he said.

MUW has an enrollment of about 2,600.

Education plays a key role in the state's economic development, Borsig said, and for Mississippi to remain competitive, colleges will have to produce a well-trained work force.

He said that offers a niche role for MUW, recruiting nontraditional students such as community college transfers.

The more students the university recruits, the less it will have to depend on state funding for survival, he said.

MUW receives 52 percent of its funding from tuition and the remainder from the state, a trend Borsig anticipates continuing.

Increasing recruitment and retention is the answer, he said, not raising the cost of tuition.