IUP breaks enrollment record

IUP's enrollment has broken another record, making it the second consecutive year it has done so, according to the IUP website Thursday.

Final enrollment released by IUP stands at 15,126, according to the website.  Enrollment includes 3,128 freshman, 2,299 graduate students and 680 transfer students.

This year's enrollment record broke last year's record, which enrolled 14,638 students.

"We've had two years of record breaking enrollment, with academically stronger students," IUP Interim President David Werner said in a prepared statement. "Everyone at this university should be proud of this achievement."             

These enrollment numbers turned out to be about what Jim Begany, IUP associate vice president for enrollment management, expected. He said he expected enrollment to be around the 15,000 mark, in an interview held Sept. 1 at his office in Sutton Hall.

This year, out-of-state enrollment was at 1,802, which is 12 percent of the student population, according to the website. Other numbers show IUP has 2,013 minority students, which is 13 percent of IUP and 649 international students, or 4.3 percent.

The release pointed out factors in enrollment growth included a record number of campus visitations from first-year and transfer students, along with 12,755 undergraduate applications, which is 670 more than last year.

Begany said he expects undergraduate applications to be even higher this year.

"We think we will have about 13,000 applications this year, which will be a record," he said.

Begany said a reason for enrollment was due to higher SAT scores achieved by the current freshmen class, compared to previous freshmen classes. He said the SAT scores were 20 points higher than the 2007-2008 academic year.

Begany also said the increased enrollment comes from the increased size from the 2008 freshmen class, compared to the previous freshmen classes. He said 2008's freshmen class enrollment size was kept the same the past couple of years, which he said is the reason for the enrollment record breaking numbers.

"The future goal is to keep the freshman class the same size, which should begin to level off enrollment," Begany said.