By Jonathan Smith, Editor in Chief
University officials announced record enrollment figures for the fall of 4,786 students-a 111 student increase from last year and the first increase since 2000.
Jack Rich, executive vice president, during a faculty luncheon Wednesday announced the enrollment totals gathered from the 12th-day enrollment figures-the figures considered the official enrollment numbers released the third week of each semester.
The increase, said Dr. Royce Money, president of the university, is due in large part to an increased emphasis on improving enrollment by hiring more people in certain areas of recruiting.
Phil Schubert, vice president of finance, said about $600,000 was added across the board in recruiting.
“In every area where we added, we’ve increased [enrollment],” Money said, including freshman, graduate and bachelor of applied studies enrollment.
Rich said during the past year, the university has invested in new recruiters, improved the way students are recruited and increased personalization of the recruitment process. He also pointed to good retention of students and a large freshman class of more than 1,000 students as other reasons for the increase.
Because of the investment to recruiting, the university enrolled 90 more students than the 4,696 projected for the budget, Schubert said. That increase could generate about $1 million to $1.5 million of added flexibility beyond what was projected, although enrollment plays only a part of the budget as a whole. However, Schubert said it appears the investment has paid off tremendously.
The 12th day enrollment figures are one of the early indicators of how closely the university will be able to follow its projected budget. Schubert said he will be meeting with the finance committee in the next week and will have a good idea about the budget toward the end of the month.
“It’s a little early to get our arms around all the financial benefits,” Schubert said. “It’s been a while since we’ve felt this positively financially across all spectrums.”
