UA Enrollment Up, But Growth Slows

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The University of Arkansas set a new record for student enrollment, campus officials announced Friday, Sept. 8. Total enrollment at the end of the 11^th day of classes was 17,938 students, an increase of a little more than 100 students, or less than 1 percent growth over the 2005 fall enrollment. University enrollment increased 4.9 percent in 2004, 3.2 percent in 2005, and 0.7 percent this year. The slowing growth rate comes as the university continues to attract students with stronger academic records, and students from outside of Arkansas.

"The UA record-setting enrollment shows continued growth and continued improvement on both the undergraduate and graduate levels,” said University Chancellor John A. White. “The enrollment statistics reflect the hard work done every day by our Admissions staff, Graduate School staff, and everyone else involved in recruiting students to this campus. Since 1997 the University has added close to 4000 students to its enrollment.  We expect to continue having modest increases in enrollment, while increasing the diversity of our student body, increasing the academic qualifications of entering students, and increasing the University's six-year graduation rate. The pace at which we increase in these areas that are so critical to the State of Arkansas will depend, in large measure, on the resources we continue to receive, both public and private."

(Note: there are 596 students enrolled in the university who are taking courses, but not seeking degrees. This release will only focus on degree-seeking students)

Overall, the number of degree-seeking undergraduate students is up by 1.7 percent, to a total of 13,891. Graduate student enrollment is up 2.4 percent (3,021 degree seeking students), while Law School enrollment has dropped 2.5 percent (430 degree-seeking students.)

For the second year in a row the number of in-state undergraduate students is down, with 10,966 degree-seeking students enrolled, a decrease of 1.2 percent over last year. In-state students still make up 79 percent of the undergraduate population, but the number of out-of —state students is up by 14.6 percent over last year. Out-of state enrollment has increased steadily over the past five years, and now stands at 2,632 students. International student enrollment is also up for undergraduates to 293 students this year, an increase of 11.8 percent.

The incoming freshman class set new records for both enrollment and academic achievement. The number of degree-seeking freshman totals 2,784, a 1.2 percent increase over last year. Admissions Director Dawn Medley pointed out that last year’s freshman class was unusually large.

“We are excited that we maintained our amazing growth from last year and surpassed it this year in the freshmen class,” she said. “It is also important to note that the quality of our freshman class rose as did our continued growth from out of state. We plan to redouble our efforts to continue to bring in record-breaking classes of high quality students.”

The incoming freshman class boasts an average ACT score of 25.5, the highest yet at the university. Their grade point average is 3.58, the highest since the record-setting class that enrolled in 2003.

In-state enrollment dropped slightly for incoming freshmen, down 0.3 percent (1,918 total students) from last year, but that was offset by a 1.3 percent increase of out-of-state students (807 students), and an 84.4 percent rise in the number of international students (59 students). In-state students make up 68.9 percent of the new freshman class.

Recruiting minority students to the University of Arkansas continues to be a challenge. Total enrollment of African American students dropped by 3.6 percent, to 947 students. African American students now make up 5.3 percent of the total enrollment.

Hispanic American enrollment, on the other hand, increased by 20.2 percent overall, to a total of 447 students. Hispanic Americans now make up 2.5 percent of the student body.

In the freshman class, African American enrollment dropped by 13.6 percent from 2005, to 108 students, 3.9 percent of the total class. Hispanic American enrollment increased by 19.2 percent, to 93 students, 3.3 percent of the incoming freshman class.

“I am pleased with our growth in Hispanic freshmen and glad that we have created programs to enhance our African American outreach efforts,” said Medley. “I believe that our partnership with Advantage Communications Incorporated will help us bring more African Americans to the university.” 

The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences continues to be the largest college on campus, in terms of undergraduate enrollment, with 5,665 students, an increase of 2.3 percent from last year.

The Sam M. Walton College of Business has the next largest enrollment, with 3,036 undergraduate students, but that is a decline of 3.2 percent from 2005.

The College of Education and Health Professions is the third largest college. Its undergraduate enrollment of 2,033 students is a 6.4 percent increase over last year.

The College of Engineering has an undergraduate enrollment of 1,571, a .4 percent increase from 2005.

The Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences has an undergraduate enrollment of 1,220, an 8 percent enrollment increase.

The School of Architecture has an undergraduate enrollment of 366 students, a 2.7 percent decrease from the 2005 enrollment.

The state of Arkansas requires institutions of higher education to report enrollment figures for students who are registered on the 11^th day of classes.