Rise in enrollment

By carolinianweb on August 26, 2015 • ( 0 )

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Spencer Schneier
News Editor

John Newsom of the News and Record speculated last week that UNC-Greensboro’s enrollment could be up this year, which would be a notable accomplishment for the university.

Newsom posits that the university has added roughly 700 students, which would be notable for the university’s financial outlook.

Dana Dunn stressed the importance of enrollment in her introductory address at the State of the University address, but did not offer specific numbers. She emphasized the increased demand for on-campus housing, touting the progress being made on Spartan Village II.

Increased enrollment would be a positive sign for the university, which has seen slowing growth over the past few years. With a new chancellor coming into office this fall, it would allow for him to focus more on the long-term prognosis of the campus, as opposed to short-term issues.

One of the things Dr. Gilliam alluded to in his interview with The Carolinian was the importance of external factors in a chancellor’s decision making process, noting that Chancellor Brady had to deal with the fallout from the economic crisis in 2008. If UNC-Greensboro were to have an enrollment issue, then that could hamper Gilliam’s plans for the university.

The freshman class of 2015 includes 2,800 freshman and 1,900 transfer students, according to a report from Time Warner Cable News in the Triad. The report also notes that the freshman class includes students from all 50 states as well as 79 countries. University officials touted the diversity and scope of the freshman class. TWC News noted that according to university admissions, UNC-Greensboro is the most diverse campus in the UNC System.

The report from Time Warner Cable News also notes that UNC-Greensboro officials claim that there has been an improvement of three-to-four points in the university’s retention rate, which is the percentage of students that remain at the university year over year.

TWC News also notes that the university is not at capacity, which jibes with the comments from Dunn at the State of the University address. Dunn claimed that the university was turning students away who wanted to live on campus. This could potentially signal that the administration is anticipating a boost in the number of students on campus, as they are constructing 300 more beds with the Spartan Village II project.