PULLMAN – “This year’s freshman class will be the largest class in the history of Washington State University,” said President Elson S. Floyd at a press conference held Monday, Aug. 25, at the Lewis Alumni Center. “It will also be the best academically prepared class and it is a very diverse class.”
For the second consecutive year, the Pullman campus is welcoming a record number of freshmen – a class expected to surpass last year’s 3,208 students.
“I am very, very pleased with where we are on the enrollment front,” said Floyd, who added that stabilizing enrollment was a primary goal when he took over as president in May 2007.
Though official enrollment numbers won’t be available until the tenth day of class, John Fraire, vice president for enrollment management, said fall semester enrollment for all WSU campuses is approaching 25,000 students – with roughly 18,000 of those students on the Pullman campus.
Fraire credits the increase to changes in recruiting efforts.
“We put more modern recruitment methods into place – using more direct outreach,” he said. “We chose not to invest money in more brochures, but instead used that money to bring more students onto campus.”
SAT scores averaged 1111 last fall and are expected to reach 1116 this fall. Fraire said a five-point increase in one year is also quite significant.
@ www.hrs.wsu.edu/Flexible+Scheduling.
• At WSU Tri-Cities, administrators welcomed the campus’ second class of freshman students, as well as an increased number of transfer admissions. In May, the university dedicated the new Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory, a $24.8 million facility built in partnership with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• At WSU Spokane, construction will soon conclude on the $34.6 million nursing building on the Riverpoint campus. The building will provide the College of Nursing with increased classroom, student support and library space. The building is expected to be ready for faculty and staff move-in in mid-November, with the first classes offered in January 2009.