SRU fall enrollment again surpasses 8,800 students
Sept. 17, 2019
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. — Enrollment at Slippery Rock University continues to remain firm with 8,806 students attending the University this semester according to the official 15-day-of classes report.
For fall 2019, SRU enrolled 7,468 undergraduate and a record 1,338 graduate students compared to 2018's enrollment of 7,538 undergraduate and 1,286 graduate students. Graduate student enrollment is up 52 students, or 4.04%, from one year ago. Undergraduate student enrollment decreased by 70 students or 0.93% from fall 2018.
Overall, SRU saw an enrollment decline of less than one-quarter of 1% (.20) from one year ago.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again, no one likes to see the arrow point downward," said SRU President William Behre. "But it is encouraging - especially when you consider the ongoing decline in the number of high school graduates - that we remain strong and actually saw an increase in first-time, full-time freshman."
SRU's first-time, full-time freshman enrollment is up 26 students from one year ago (1,579/1,553), as is the overall high school GPA (3.47/3.44) of those incoming students.
"That being said, we are looking closely at how we get that arrow to go back up overall," Behre said. "We plan to be more aggressive in our out-of-state recruitment efforts, improve are already strong retention rates and explore how we reach out and serve underrepresented students, rural populations and adult learners."
Overall, total in-state enrollment increased by 66 students (7,923 compared to 7,857). Graduate student in-state enrollment increased 3.37%, to 1,134 students, while out-of-state posted an 8.65% increase, a bump of 16 students.
Total undergraduate credit hours generated are down slightly, dropping less than 1%, while graduate total credit hours were up slightly at 1.18% or 10,611.5 hours.
"Our numbers remain steady from a year ago because of our increasing commitment to providing market-driven academic programs, merit- and need-based scholarships, and a culture focused on student success," said Amanda Yale, SRU chief enrollment officer.
"We continue to add new programming that has both market demand today and predicted future growth. We do our research when it comes to program creation and selecting those that make the most sense and will be the right fit for students across the board - new first year, transfer or graduate.
There are 5,166 women on campus, down .10% and 3,640 men, a decrease of .36 percent from last year.
The University also posted gains in certain areas of diversity with increases in Asian (17.28%); two or more races (3.47%) and unknown (20.98%) students.
SRU's FTE enrollment - a measure of how many students are taking full study loads that then generates a given number of credit hours - decreased slightly, 0.71 percent, to 8,210 from last year's 8,269.
Day 15 credit hours totaled 120,477.8 compared to 121,384.5 reported for fall 2018, a decrease of 906 or 0.75%.
MEDIA CONTACT: Robb King | 724.738.2199 | robb.king@sru.edu