PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University set another enrollment record this fall, welcoming 31,607 students systemwide.
Overall enrollment for the fall 2019 semester eclipsed last fall’s record of 31,478 by 129 students, or 0.4 percent across the university’s six campuses. The largest increases were seen at WSU Everett and WSU Global, which grew by 2.9 percent and 5.8 percent, respectively.
While several campuses had flat or slightly decreased fall enrollment compared to last year, the academic profile of incoming students continues to be robust.
“The average GPA of our incoming freshmen continues to rise and this year we have 207 Regents Scholars, which is 43 more students than we had last year,” Provost Mitzi Montoya said. “We are pleased to see the stability in our overall enrollment, an even stronger academic profile and continued growth in the diversity of our campuses.”
The Regents Scholars Program recognizes Washington’s best high school students for their hard work and academic accomplishments. This year WSU welcomes 10 Distinguished Regents Scholars.
The latest numbers from WSU’s Office of Institutional Research show key constituencies for the university are holding steady.
Nearly one out of every three WSU students are the first in their family to attend college, peaking at WSU Vancouver, where more than 40 percent are first-generation college students. More than 24,000 students systemwide are from the state of Washington, with three campuses – Tri‑Cities, Vancouver and Everett – enrolling more than 92 percent of its total students from within the state.
WSU has seen its systemwide enrollment grow each year since 2013. Graduate enrollment this year rebounded after a down year in 2018 to 4,262, the highest it’s been since 2015.
Here are some highlights for each campus:
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WSU Pullman
Total enrollment of 20,976, a decrease of 46 students compared to last fall. It’s the first time in several years enrollment dropped in Pullman as the university looked to stabilize its incoming freshmen class size. Last fall, more than 4,500 freshmen arrived in Pullman, a 15.3 percent jump from 2017.
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WSU Spokane
Led by a 33 percent increase in professional students enrolled at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, WSU Spokane’s total student population grew to 1,685, an increase of eight students compared to 2018.
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WSU Tri‑Cities
While overall enrollment at WSU Tri‑Cities dropped from 1,841 to 1,813 students this fall, it saw gains in minority and international student representation. The campus has the highest rate of minority enrollment at 42 percent compared to 30.5 percent systemwide.
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WSU Vancouver
Increases seen in new transfer students and graduate students at WSU Vancouver carried its overall enrollment to 3,585, up from 3,577 last fall. More than 5 percent of the student body in Vancouver are veterans, the highest rate across the WSU system.
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WSU Everett
WSU’s newest campus enrolled 283 students this fall, up eight from last year, 94 percent from the state of Washington, tied with Tri‑Cities for the highest rate.
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WSU Global
The university’s online campus saw the largest enrollment increase of the system this fall, up nearly 6 percent compared to last fall, landing at 3,265 students.
Fall 2019 Census Day Enrollment reports are available at the Office of Institutional Research website.
Media contact:
Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications, 509‑595‑1708, phil.weiler@wsu.edu.
