Enrollment tops 200,000 students this fall at MnSCU

Student count goes up for the fifth consecutive year, sets another record

More than 200,000 students are attending the 32 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities this fall, resulting in the fifth consecutive fall enrollment increase and setting another record high, officials said today.

The state colleges and universities system now has 203,756 students or 5,262 more students than last fall when 198,794 students were enrolled, a 2.7 percent increase. Enrollment growth among the 25 community and technical colleges averaged more than 3 percent, while the seven state universities grew by almost 2 percent.

“Once again, the public colleges and universities have attracted an increasing number of students to its doors,” said Chancellor James H. McCormick. “We look forward to another banner year of learning, opportunity and preparing our students for their future.”

Enrollment was up significantly in several categories.

More students qualified for federally funded Pell grants. Students eligible for federally funded Pell grants grew by 18.3 percent. Pell grant eligibility is typically used by higher education institutions as an indication of family income.

• More students returned from last year. Enrollment of continuing students was up 5 percent.
• Part-time students are taking more credits. The number of students taking between nine and 11.9 credits grew by 12.2 percent. The number of students taking between 6 and 8.9 credits grew by 7 percent, while students taking fewer than six credits decreased.
• The system attracted more students over age 24. Enrollment grew nearly 8 percent among 25- to 34-year-old students and nearly 6 percent among 35- to 44-year-old students.
• More undergraduate students transferred. Transfer of undergraduate students also increased by 8.5 percent.

Full-year-equivalent enrollment is projected to increase by almost 1.6 percent for the current year. (Full-year-equivalent enrollment is calculated by adding the credits taken by all students and dividing by the number of credits considered to be a full-time course load – 30 credits per year for undergraduates and 20 credits for graduate students.) The colleges and universities project a full-year-equivalent fall enrollment of 158,071 for the current year, compared with the actual full-year-equivalent fall enrollment of 155,601 for the 2009-2010 academic year.

The numbers released today are the official enrollment headcount of students taking credit-based courses on the 30th day of the fall semester.

Note: to see the report, go to: View pdf Thirtieth Day Headcount Enrollment