Growth is key in state Closing the Gaps plan

Enrollment at UNT has grown steadily during the last seven years, jumping from nearly 25,000 students to more than 31,000 students, at a rate that exceeded the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's projections for UNT.

The projections are based on Texas' Closing the Gaps by 2015 plan, adopted by the coordinating board in 2000. Closing the Gaps is a program to in-crease higher education participation and success, educational excellence, and funded research during the next 15 years. The first goal is to recruit 500,000 more students for Texas public universities by 2015.

By Fall 2004, UNT already had achieved 97.8 percent of its 2005 enrollment target, meeting 93.2 percent of its target for black students, 83.6 percent of its target for Hispanic students and 99 percent of its target for white students, university officials say.

"Diversity is a key value associated with our campus culture and is evident in our success in attracting a diverse student body," says Joneel Harris, associate vice president for enrollment management. She adds that UNT will continue to grow and dominate in the North Texas region as it approaches 2010 and beyond.

At the same time, however, Provost Howard Johnson stresses that managing growth is key.

"We don't want to just let our numbers increase and lose sight of giving our students the best education possible," he says. "And we don't want to grow just because of our location. We want to continue to grow because of the quality and reputation of our programs."

UNT enrolls and graduates more students than any other university in the region, Harris says. It has the largest on-campus population (5,588 beds in 2004) and the largest graduate student population (6,881 in Fall 2004) in the North Texas region, the state's most populated area. The number of students new from high school who entered UNT rose from 2,372 in Fall 1997 to 3,352 in Fall 2004.

In addition, UNT is listed in African American and Hispanic publications as a Top 100 university nationally for ethnic minority students. In 1997, African American students accounted for 7.5 percent (1,871 students) of the university's total enrollment and Hispanic students made up 6.6 percent (1,645). In Fall 2004, African American students accounted for 10.7 percent (3,336 students) of the university's total enrollment and Hispanic students made up 9.6 percent (2,99 students).

BY JULIE ELLIOTT jelliott@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Discover UNT draws almost 1,000 to see university's updated look
• About 2,500 expected to graduate during commencement May 14
• About the commencement speaker
• UNT to present honorary doctoral degree to capital campaign leader
• TAMS commencement scheduled for May 13
• North Texas ‘Hold 'em' is 2005 Homecoming theme
• Faculty Senate honors retiring director of international studies and programs
• Students earn several national scholarships
• UNT awards Learning Enhancement grants

homepage