WSU reported record enrollments for fall semester on Friday, Sept. 12, with 25,135 students attending university-wide, a 4.9 percent increase from last fall.
Each of WSU’s four campuses shows higher student numbers. The numbers were calculated at the close of the 10th day of classes of the fall semester.
WSU’s enrollment includes another record class of first-time freshmen for the Pullman campus, 3,411 compared with last year’s total of 3,208.
The median high school grade point average and SAT scores of the incoming Pullman freshmen also exceed last year’s averages.
“The continued growth of our enrollments and the academic strength of our incoming class are certainly excellent news for our university,” said President Elson S. Floyd. “However, bringing these students to our campuses is only the first step. Our job now is to provide them with the tools to gain the world-class education they seek and deserve.”
“I’m pleased with the success of our outreach and recruitment efforts. We continue to attract a well-qualified and diverse group of students who will benefit from a WSUeducation and will, in turn, help build the economy of the future,” said John Fraire, vice president for enrollment management.”
The headcount of Pullman students is 19,360, up 3.57 percent from last year.
Among the incoming freshmen in Pullman, 40.2 percent have high school grade point averages of 3.6 or above, up from 37.7 percent last year. The average SAT score rose from 1111 to 1117.
Among the first-time freshmen, 509 are minorities compared with 502 in last year’s incoming class. Latino students represent the fastest-rising component of that group; their numbers moved from 153 in 2007 to 192 in 2008.
Students of color make up 15.1 percent of Pullman enrollment overall, compared with 14.6 last fall. The Pullman campus is almost evenly divided by gender – 50.3 percent men and 49.7 percent women.
The overall university also saw growth in graduate enrollments from 3,300 in fall 2007 to 3,396 this fall.
WSU Vancouver, which is now in its third year of admitting freshmen, is the fastest-growing of the WSU campuses, showing a 10.6 percent increase in headcount enrollment over last fall, to 2,827 students. In full-time equivalent students, a measure of credit hours taken, WSU Vancouver is up by 15.2 percent to 2.183.
Students of color represent 11.9 percent of WSU Vancouver enrollment, up from 10.8 percent last fall. Women make up 58.3 percent of the Vancouver student body.
At WSU Spokane, headcount enrollment increased 7.9 percent, to 1,576, up 116 from last fall. In FTE students, WSU Spokane increased by 10.9 percent, to 1,514.
Women make up 71.5 percent of the WSU Spokane student body; 14.5 percent of students on campus are students of color, up from 14.1 percent last fall.
At WSU Tri-Cities, which is admitting its second class of freshmen, headcount enrollment increased 8.8 percent from 1,261 in fall 2007 to 1,372 this fall. FTE enrollment increased 15 percent to 976, reflecting the increased number of full-time students on the campus.
Students of color make up 14.9 percent of the student body in the Tri-Cities compared to 12.6 percent last fall; 60.9 percent of Tri-Cities students are women.
