Fall enrollment at East Central University is up by 5.6 percent over fall 2008, ECU officials said. ECU has 4,633 undergraduate and graduate students this fall, or 244 more than a year ago.
ECU Registrar Pamla Armstrong said undergraduate enrollment has increased 5 percent over last fall. Beginning freshman enrollment is up by 70 students, or a 12.7 percent increase, and the number of undergraduate students transferring to ECU from other schools increased by 11.3 percent, or 38 more students.
Graduate student enrollment is up 8.1 percent with 67 more students compared to last fall. Part of the growth in graduate enrollment can be credited to ECU's new master's degree in accounting.
Concurrent students, who are high school students also enrolled in ECU classes, increased 29.3 percent with 12 additional students this fall.
Armstrong said students enrolled in 2,554 more credit hours this fall, compared to a year ago.
ECU President John Hargrave attributed the enrollment increase to "the continuing hard work of university recruiters and our enrollment management efforts, including marketing and promotion," as well as new degree programs coming online, and the university's commitment to delivering courses to off-campus locations and online.
Hargrave also noted that college enrollments typically increase during times of high unemployment.
# # #