Most colleges seeing increases in enrollment
M ost of the universities in Arkansas reported increases in enrollment for the fall semester.
The state’s funding formula for higher education no longer emphasizes enrollment, due to passage of Act 148 of 2017. It changed the focus of state funding to a model based on productivity. One measure is retention of students and graduation rates. Another factor is the university’s mission, and how much it emphasizes research.
For their official count of students, universities take a snapshot on the 11th day of class. At the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, enrollment continued to increase for the fourth consecutive year, going up 4.6 percent more than enrollment during the fall of 2023.
Total enrollment was a record 22,600 students. Of those, 28,859 are undergraduates and 16,519 are from Arkansas.
Arkansas State University at Jonesboro also set enrollment records this fall. On the 11th day of the semester, enrollment was 16,687 students, which is 12 percent higher than last year. The graduate school at ASU is the largest in Arkansas. Its enrollment increased by 9 percent, to 5,741 students. Of the overall student population, 72 percent are from Arkansas.
ASU operates a campus in Mexico with 961 students. Although their degrees are considered to be from ASU, the university doesn’t request state funding to subsidize their educations, according to an ASU spokesman.
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock reported enrollment of 5,434 undergraduates, up 3.7 percent from a year ago. However, the number of graduate students declined from 1,535 to 1,479 to make the overall increase about 2 percent.
The University of Central Arkansas at Conway reported a strong increase in enrollment, thanks in large part to a surge in its freshman class this year. Overall enrollment is 10,123 students, up 3.4 percent from 2023. This year’s incoming freshman class, with 2,183 students, is up 26 percent over last year.
Arkansas Tech at Russellville reported mixed results on the 11th day of class. Its campus at Ozark had an increase of 7.4 percent over last year, to 2,115 students. On the other hand, its main campus at Russellville saw a decreased headcount of 9,062 compared to 9,487 last year. University officials attributed the decrease to a change in scholarship procedures that were necessary to keep the program within budget.
Southern Arkansas University at Magnolia also reported a decrease in enrollment of 8 percent, to 4,733 students, from last years’ record enrollment of 5,126. SAU officials expected the decline, based on lower birth rates that resulted in lower numbers of high school graduates within the region. Also, the university saw a drop in international students because of unpredictable visa approvals. On the bright side, applications for business degrees and in the education department are both up dramatically.
The University of Arkansas at Monticello reported an increase of 92 students, from 2,761 last year to 2,853 this year.
Henderson State in Arkadelphia reported enrollment of 2,061 students, a decrease of 3.5 percent from last fall.
The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff reported an overall decrease of 2 percent, top 2,049 students. Enrollment at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith remained virtually unchanged from last year. UAFS has 5,512 students, just two fewer than last year.
Sen. Reginald Murdock
