Enrollment at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ at Boulder has hit an all-time high for degree-seeking students this fall with a total enrollment of 25,656 or 582 more than fall 1998 for an increase of 2.3 percent.
And for the first time, final total enrollment figures will include both degree-seeking and non-degree students for a total of 26,318.
Formerly, non-degree students were counted through the Division of Continuing Education. The change "brings CU-Boulder in line with many other schools," said Barbara Schneider, interim executive director of enrollment management.
The gain in degree-seeking students reflects record increases in Colorado freshmen and Colorado resident transfer students.
CU-Boulder freshmen from Colorado are up 13 percent to 2,642, from 2,344 in 1998, and Colorado transfers are up 15 percent to 985, from 854 in 1998. The freshman class is the largest ever this fall with 4,566 first-year students, 285 more than last fall's 4,281.
Enrollment this fall for degree-seeking students is 85 more than the previous high enrollment in 1991 of 25,571.
This year's increase continues a trend of increases on the Boulder campus since 1995, when total enrollment was 24,440, Schneider said.
"We are pleased to see the continuing popularity of the Boulder campus, especially among Colorado residents," said Schneider. "We're also pleased that our large freshman class benefited from new orientation and registration procedures this summer, and is now settled comfortably into campus housing."
For degree-seeking students, total undergraduate enrollment is 21,203 this year, compared with 20,576 in fall 1998. Graduate enrollment is down this fall to 4,453 from 4,498 in fall 1998. A strong Colorado economy and one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation may have affected graduate enrollment, luring students into the workforce.
The number of resident degree-seeking undergraduate students for fall 1998 is 14,219 compared with the previous all-time high of 13,842 in fall 1997 and 13,725 in fall 1998. Undergraduate non-residents this fall will number 6,984 compared with 6,851 in fall 1998; their previous high was 7,052 in 1992.
The figures fall well within the three-year average ratio mandated by the state legislature, which requires an overall resident population of two-thirds of total enrollment for each fiscal year. This fall Colorado students make up 68.6 percent of total enrollment on the Boulder campus.
Minority enrollment is up slightly to 3,414 for fall 1999 from 3,357 in fall 1998, a gain of 57 students or 1.7 percent. In a breakdown of total minority enrollment by ethnic group, all groups showed a gain except American Indian students, who decreased 5.7 percent to 194 this fall from 205 in fall 1998.
The greatest percentage increase was for African Americans with 4.9 percent. Minority students comprise 13.0 percent of the total student body this fall, down from 13.4 percent last fall.
Freshman minority enrollment is up over fall 1998 for Asian American, African American and Hispanic-Latino students but down for American Indian students.
"We're pleased that our minority enrollment is up," Schneider said. "Another goal is to continue to increase the number of minority students as a percentage of the total student population."