IUP breaks enrollment record with 15,379 students

The number of enrolled students at IUP has broken records for the past four consecutive years as released by the Office of Institutional Research, Planning, and Assessment this week.

In a press release, the fall 2012 total enrollment, including undergraduate and graduate students, is 15,379, up 247 students from last year.

This marks a 1.6 percent increase.

Although IUP has a growing student body, the academic level of incoming students has not dropped.  According to the release, the fall 2012 freshman class has an average grade-point average of 3.2, which is consistent with previous years.  

The class also has 23 high school valedictorians or salutatorians, 180 to whom were in the top 10 percent of their graduating class.  

IUP’s retention rate has also increased to nearly 76 percent.  

Michelle Fryling, director of media relations, said that the school’s goal isn’t just to bring numbers in the door, but to find students who will fit at IUP.

“We want our students to be successful. We don’t want them to tank out and not be happy,” she said.

Fryling said that when students are successful, they want to send their children to IUP, or recommend the school to others.

“It’s like the circle of life,” she said.

IUP President Michael Driscoll said the increase in enrollment is due to several factors.

“IUP’s continued record-breaking enrollment in light of a decline in the number of high school graduates in Pennsylvania is a clear demonstration of a university wide commitment to strong teaching, advising and mentoring; providing excellent service to students and their families; and maintaining and improving the campus physical plant in ways to meet the changing needs of our students,” Driscoll said.

He also said he recognized the hard work of the Enrollment Management and Communications Division Vice President Jim Begany for their efforts.

Fryling said she attributed the increase also to the hard work done in the Admissions Office who make phone calls, give orientation tours and more.

According to the release, six thousand students visited IUP for the fall 2012 admission and 15,087 total guests visited the campus and community.

Fryling said that the school is prepared to handle the increased enrollment, and has plans to face problems associated with a growing student body.

She also said she does not attribute the growing student body  merely to the recession of the economy.  She said that, although students do tend to go back to school in a recession, some other universities have actually had decreasing enrollment rates.

The quality of IUP combined with its affordability, according to Fryling, has helped the school to attract students, even with high school graduation rates declining.