[107] MTSU Record Fall Enrollment of 26,430 Shows Nearly 5% Increase

Release date: Sept. 22, 2010

News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-5616 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Enrollment Services/Student Affairs contact: Dr. Deb Sells, 615-898-2440
or dsells@mtsu.edu

MTSU Record Fall Enrollment of 26,430 Shows Nearly 5% Increase


(MURFREESBORO) — MTSU’s tremendous growth pattern continues as yet another record number of students is taking regular and online courses this fall, Enrollment Services officials said Sept. 20.
MTSU’s total fall enrollment of 26,430 students registered is 1,242 more than were registered in 2009 – a 4.93 percent increase from the 25,188 students taking classes a year ago. The fall census data recently was submitted to the Tennessee Board of Regents.
“The large increase continues to reflect the outstanding academic programs available to students attending MTSU,” said Dr. Deb Sells, vice president for Student Affairs and vice provost for Enrollment Services.
“In addition to our quality academic programs,” Sells added, “we continue to hear from students and parents that they are also attracted to MTSU because of our small class sizes and individual attention that our students get from faculty and staff throughout the university.
There are a total of 23,401 undergraduates and 3,029 graduate students enrolled. Also, there are 6,447 students – 3,684 undergrads and 2,763 grad students – taking classes part time.
New records were set in the following categories: first-time freshmen (3,777); new transfers (2,254); total new undergrads (6,057); total new students (6,785); returning freshmen (1,960), juniors (4,038) and seniors (6,203); and others.
“The big improvement is in students crossing the junior and senior thresholds in much larger numbers (6.29 percent and 8.12 percent increases, respectively), which is a signal more students are getting closer to successfully graduating,” Sells said.
There also are more returning master’s candidates (1,572), more total returning grad students (1,976) and total returnees (17,938) than ever before, the information from the Office of Enrollment Technical Systems reveals.
Sells said another trend of note is that “our percentage of minority students continues to increase, with minorities making up 23.28 percent of the total student body – that’s an increase of a full percentage point over last year. African-American students make up 17.15 percent of our total enrollment, an increase of 12.65 percent over 2009.”
Crediting the entire campus, Sells said all are to be commended for the efforts that have led to these increases.
“The whole university — enrollment management staff, faculty and other administrators and staff — have worked overtime to help each student make a smooth and efficient transition to the university, improving every part of their experience from processing of admissions applications, to answering financial aid questions, to attending the CUSTOMS orientation program, to receiving quality academic advising,” she said.



MTSU Enrollment Comparisons
(Data submitted to Tennessee Board of Regents Sept. 17)

Fall 2009 Fall 2010 Difference

Total enrollment 25,188 26,430 1,242 (4.93%)

Undergraduate students 22,229 23,401 1,172
Graduate students 2,889 3,029 140

New students

First-time freshmen 3,596 3,777 181
New transfers 2,137 2,254 117
New undergraduate special 37 26 -11
Total new undergraduates 5,770 6,057 287
Total new graduate students 816 728 -88
Total new students 6,586 6,785 199

Returning students

Total undergraduates 15,135 15,962 827
Total graduate students 1,811 1,976 165
Total returnees 16,946 17,938 992

Freshmen 1,824 1,960 136
Sophomores 3,667 3,629 -38
Juniors 3,799 4,038 239
Seniors 5,737 6,203 466
Undergraduate special* 108 132 24

* — Currently enrolled high-school or gifted students taking courses for college credit



MTSU enrollment 2001-10

2010 – 26,430
2009 – 25,188
2008 – 23,872
2007 – 23,246
2006 – 22,863
2005 – 22,554
2004 – 22,322
2003 – 21,744
2002 – 21,163
2001 – 20,073

Source: MTSU Enrollment Services/Office of Enrollment Technical Systems

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Founded in 1911, Middle Tennessee State University is a Tennessee Board of Regents institution located in Murfreesboro and is the state’s largest public undergraduate institution. MTSU now boasts one of the nation’s first master’s degree programs in horse science, and the Council of Graduate Schools in Washington, D.C., acclaims MTSU’s Master of Science in Professional Science degree—the only one in Tennessee—as a model program. This fall, MTSU unveiled three new doctoral degrees in the sciences.

For MTSU news and information, go online to mtsunews.com.