UNT enrollment reaches 30,256 students — an all-time high

According to the unofficial headcount after the 12th day of 2002 fall classes, the UNT student population has surpassed the 30,000 milestone to bring the highest fall enrollment numbers in UNT's 112-year history — 30,256 students.

All enrollment statistics are unofficial 12th-class-day numbers. UNT enrollment does not become official until the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board verifies it later in the fall.

This year enrollment is up 8.6 percent over the 27,858 students officially counted for Fall 2001, an unofficial increase of 2,398 students. The Fall 2001 enrollment had surpassed the previous record enrollment of 27,160 students set in 1990.

"This year's 30,000-plus enrollment comes at a particularly good time. Since this is the base period that determines UNT's formula funding for the next two years, our new enrollment has the potential to significantly and positively impact our appropriations from the state. This is especially important now because new funds for higher education could be in short supply due to the economy," says UNT President Norval Pohl. "If funds are available to the Texas Legislature, our growing enrollment has the potential to generate additional state revenue that can be used to enhance existing academic or service programs and/or develop new ones such as the College of Engineering; and it demonstrates our commitment and contribution to the statewide Closing the Gaps effort."

Closing the Gaps is a program aimed at increasing higher education participation and success, educational excellence, and funded research during the next 15 years.

A concentrated team effort in the area of student recruitment since 1997 (involving individuals from many university departments) has guided UNT to a sixth consecutive year of increased enrollment. Last year enrollment was up 3 percent, in 2000 enrollment was up 2.1 percent, in 1999 enrollment was up 3.8 percent, in 1998 enrollment increased by 2 percent, and in 1997 enrollment increased by 0.2 percent. These increases reverse modest declines in enrollment between 1991 and 1996.

"Our continued enrollment increases are the result of a strategic recruitment and retention plan at UNT," says Joneel Harris, interim associate vice president for enrollment management, who currently chairs the Enrollment Management Committee. "Universitywide efforts have focused on retention of continuing students with special emphasis on new-from-high-school freshmen retention (which is up 4.5 percent) and managed growth of new students including freshmen, transfers, graduate and minority students across all categories.

"We are particularly pleased that we have a 19 percent (489-student) increase in African American enrollment and a 16 percent (362-student) increase in the number of Hispanic students at UNT this fall," says Harris.

A look at the total undergraduate enrollment — up 4.5 percent at 22,654 — indicates UNT sustained ability to recruit and retain students.

A breakdown of the undergraduate enrollment by classification shows that the 2002 fall freshman total of 5,091 is up 7.9 percent, or 373 students. The number of sophomores (4,962) increased by 4.9 percent, or 233 students. The number of juniors (5,269) is up 3.5 percent, or 176 students. And senior numbers (7,332) are up 2.8 percent, or 197 students. Student classification is based on the number of semester hours passed.

This year's largest gain came at the graduate level. The number of master's degree candidates (6,347) is up 27 percent, or 1,356 students, and the number of doctoral candidates (1,255) is up 5.3 percent, or 63 students.

"One of UNT's strengths is its ability to adapt programs for specific student groups," says Neal Tate, dean of the UNT Toulouse School of Graduate Studies. "For example, last spring, the College of Education initiated a special state-funded program to provide computer education certificates to up to 1,200 high school teachers and launched a program for alternative certifications in teaching.

Simultaneously, last spring, the School of Library and Information Sciences; the Department of Rehabilitation, Social Work and Addictions; and the School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management expanded their distributed learning programs. Thus, the expected 3 to 5 percent increase in enrollment in master's students became an increase of more than 20 percent. Normally, enrollment numbers fall slightly from fall to spring.

"We are pleased and impressed with our growth in the graduate school," says Tate. "We recognize the special initiatives in the College of Education may not be repeated in future years, and the program in library sciences is reaching capacity. However, the increase in master's students (in all UNT graduate programs) from Spring 2002 to Fall 2002 and this year's increase in doctoral students are solid indications that all of our programs are growing."

UNT's 2002 student numbers include an on-site enrollment of 869 students at the UNT System Center at Dallas (accounting for 308 in full-time equivalents, or FTEs). This represents a 27 percent increase over the on-site System Center enrollment last fall, but UNT's voluntary compliance with coordinating board advice that only on-site students should be counted toward System Center enrollment totals has resulted in a lower overall number than last year. The System Center enrollment count in Fall 2001 included both on-site students and students from the System Center's service area enrolled in Internet courses that were part of a System Center degree program.

While the coordinating board's policies on system centers encourage the use of technology, there are currently no rules about counting Internet students.

"The board has indicated, however, that it soon plans to issue specific rules that will apply to all university system centers for counting Internet students," says John Ellis Price, UNT System Center executive director.

Once the UNT System Center's enrollment reaches 2,500 FTEs, UNT can open the University of North Texas at Dallas, the first public university within the Dallas city limits. UNT officials are optimistic that they can reach that goal by September 2006.

BY RODDY WOLPER rwolper@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• UNT Campus Master Plan provides beauty, functionality for future of campus
• UNT faculty, staff encouraged to participate in Parent and Family Weekend
• Hispanic Friends of UNT conference Oct. 4
• Staff Council elects officers
• Former Israeli Defense Force member to visit UNT
• SLIS associate dean appointed as faculty executive assistant to the president
• UNT is staying on top of compliance issues
• Decorate with Texas' Capitol

homepage