PULLMAN, Wash. Washington State University this year experienced a record fall semester enrollment, with a total of 27,008 students enrolling across the university’s four campuses.
The new figure surpasses by nearly four percent last fall’s system-wide enrollment total of 25,989. For the second year in a row, fall enrollment at the Pullman campus also surpassed the 20,000 mark, with a total enrollment of 21,016 students, up from 20,058 in 2010. Pullman enrollment figures also include distance students served by the Pullman campus.
The overall enrollment increase reflects a significant increase in the size of this fall’s entering freshman class, which at 4,473 system-wide, makes it officially the largest group of new freshmen in WSU’s history. The record-size freshman class represents an increase of more than 27 percent from the previous fall, in which 3,283 freshmen were enrolled.
At WSU’s main Pullman campus, entering fall freshmen total 4,174, for an increase of more than 40 percent from the 2,980 freshmen registered there in the fall of 2010. Regional campus and online registrations combine to add an additional 299 freshmen to the total for the semester. System-wide, 85 percent of all new WSU freshmen are from the State of Washington.
WSU also reported a total of 2,652 new transfer students for the semester, which when combined with the 4,473 new freshmen across the university this fall, bring the number of newly registered students attending the university this semester to 7,125. System-wide, 88 percent of all new transfer students are from the State of Washington.
“We are gratified that Washington State University has become the school of choice for so many students,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. “Early in this admissions process, we made the decision to provide access to as many qualified students as possible. Clearly, the size, quality and diversity of this freshman class show that, even in difficult economic times, there is a great demand for a WSU education.”
Of particular note this year is the increased number of freshmen minority students registered. WSU Pullman, which for reporting purposes includes the WSU Spokane campus, saw minority freshmen enrollments increase from 23 percent last fall to a record 27.7 percent this year. System-wide, the minority freshman enrollment this fall was 27.5 percent.
“We’re very pleased with the diversity of this year’s class,” said VP of Enrollment Management and Student Affairs John Fraire. “The blend of ethnicity and race from all regions of the state make this a truly representative class from the State of Washington.”
As a percentage of system-wide enrolment, minority students including Asian, African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Hispanic, Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and Two or More Races account for 20.3 percent of total enrollment, as compared with 18.3 percent last fall. International enrollments system-wide account for 6.8 percent of total enrollment this fall, compared with 6.3 percent a year ago.
At WSU Vancouver now in its sixth year of accepting freshman admissions 182 new freshmen registered this fall. The average grade point of the entering freshman there 96.7 percent of whom are Washington residents was 3.39. A total of 625 new transfer students also registered at WSU Vancouver this semester, which is the largest number of transfer students registered at that campus in the past 11 years. Total enrollment at WSU Vancouver is 3,143, a 1.45 percent increase from the 3,098 enrolled at that campus in the fall of 2010.
WSU Tri-Cities now in its fifth year of accepting freshman admissions saw 97 new freshmen and 216 new transfers. The average grade point for the WSU Tri-Cities freshman class is 3.31, with 96.9% being Washington residents. Total enrollment on the WSU Tri-Cities campus is 1,520, a decline of 1.81 percent from the 1,548 enrolled there in the fall of 2010.