Wednesday, September 17, 2008

UNT enrollment breaks record for eighth straight year

By Taylor Short of North Texas Daily

Genevieve Morrissy/North Texas Daily

Uh-oh, time to update the billboard.

UNT's enrollment rose to 34,795 students and reached a milestone of more than 4,000 Hispanic students in the eighth consecutive year of record increases.

The largest jump occurred in the Hispanic category, as it grew 9.2 percent with 350 new students.

Gilda Garcia, vice president of institutional equity and diversity, said many factors affect the enrollment numbers such as UNT's inclusive climate.

"There are several factors that would contribute to the growth of Hispanic students," Garcia said. "One is the overall growth in the Hispanic community in Texas. It's increasingly becoming the choice of many more students as evidenced by the overall growth."

She said the expanding minority community helps UNT's role in Texas' Close the Gaps effort to empower the state's workforce.

Asian-American enrollment rose by 7 percent, black enrollment rose by 2.7 percent and the incoming freshman class of 3,534 rose by 0.6 percent. The only two categories showing decreases were whites by -0.8 percent, losing 183 students, and graduate students by -6.3 percent, losing 108 students.

"I think part of that might be retention because we certainly have a solid reputation and image in the community as a campus that is welcoming of diversity," Garcia said. "But we have had some struggles with retention, especially among African-American men."

Troy Johnson, associate vice president for enrollment management, said these numbers are preliminary and tend to vary at this time of year, but the growth should keep UNT in range of being the third or fourth largest university in Texas.

"When we have strong graduation numbers, categories could go either way," he said.

Johnson said the university's reputation and popularity helps the jump of transfer students by 4.8 percent totaling 178 new students, and the international category, with an 8.4 percent growth adding 133 students.

He added the fact that 447 more males enrolled this year versus 81 females was unusual.

Garcia said she believes global outreach initiatives are helping to boost UNT's enrollment.

"The variety and depth of our programs helped, plus we have quite an international presence, especially over the summer," Garcia said. "The jazz band toured, the Emerald Eagle Scholars went to Thailand and a convention of staff and faculty members went to China. We're developing partnerships all around the world. I think that contributes, but overall the solid core academic programs are getting more noticed."

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