[308] MTSU Spring Enrollment (23,653) Leaps 5% from 2009

Release date: Feb. 12, 2010

News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Enrollment Management Contacts: Dr. Deb Sells, 615-898-2440 or dsells@mtsu.edu
Dr. Sherian Huddleston, 615-898-2828 or shuddles@mtsu.edu


MTSU Spring Enrollment (23,653) Leaps 5% from 2009


(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s spring enrollment total of 23,653 students registered and taking classes is a 5 percent increase from January 2009 when 22,516 students were attending, Sherian Huddleston, associate vice provost for Enrollment Services, said this week.
Numbers supplied from the Records Office show an overall increase of 1,137 students. Following the 14-day census period that ended Jan. 27 and final edits, MTSU’s headcount totals were submitted to the Tennessee Board of Regents, Huddleston said.
“We’re very pleased that Tennessee students and their families continue to see MTSU as their best choice for pursuing a college degree,” said Dr. Debra Sells, vice provost for enrollment services and vice president for student affairs. “It’s our commitment to continue to provide these students with the very highest quality academic programs, the most talented faculty and the best support services available in the state.”
In specific areas such as total graduate population, MTSU’s College of Graduate Studies has a 5.9 percent increase from spring 2009 when 2,594 grad students were taking classes. This spring’s total is 2,748, which is an increase of 154 students.
Huddleston reports a 9.8 percent increase in new students (1,606 new undergraduate and grad students this semester compared to 1,463 in January ’09).
She added that the overall increase likely stems from the overall economy.
“If people are becoming unemployed, they’re turning to universities and community colleges for additional education and to learn new skills,” she said.
Of the key categories enrollment officials keep tabs on, only re-enrollees shows a decrease from ’09. There are 1,171 re-enrollees compared to 1,275 a year ago. Huddleston said re-enrollees are students who have attended MTSU in the past, but did not attend the previous term.
Huddleston said the spring enrollment “traditionally is less than the fall enrollment because of the preceding December graduation and other attrition.”
A record 25, 188 combined undergraduate and graduate students attended last fall. This spring’s head count is 94 percent of the final fall enrollment submitted to TBR, Huddleston said.
Huddleston added that “admissions representatives are putting the final touches for the fall 2010 recruitment class” and that Saturday, March 27, will be the first of two Spring Preview Days (April 24 is the second) for prospective students and their families. Visit admissions online (www.mtsu.edu/admissn/) to register.

Charting MTSU’s spring enrollment


Category Spring 2009 Spring 2010
Total enrollment 22,516 23,653
First-time freshmen 203 252
New transfers 894 926
New undergraduates 1,124 1,197
New grad students 337 409
Re-enrollees 1,275 1,171
Total undergraduate population 19,919 20,905
Total graduate population 2,597 2,748





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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.


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