UIS sets new enrollment records

By Courtney Westlake

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The University of Illinois at Springfield is experiencing new records as the numbers of students enrolled continue to jump from years past, according to the Office of Admissions.

“We hit another record enrollment this fall at UIS with 4,855 students enrolled, an increase of 3.8 percent over last fall’s record of 4,761 students,” said Dr. Marya Leatherwood, Director of Enrollment Management and Associate Vice Chancellor. “Most of the gain was at the undergraduate level; there are 2,863 undergraduates at UIS this fall, compared to 2,758 last fall.”

Diversity seems to be a major trend in the incoming classes, Leatherwood said. Forty percent of the freshman class this year is made up of underrepresented groups, and geographically, the numbers are spreading from outside of the immediate area.

“Over 65 percent of the student body at the freshman level is from outside of Springfield area which is tremendous in terms of gains for housing prospects,” she noted.

Online student enrollment has also increased this year, Leatherwood said; 1030 students are enrolled in the 16 online degree programs offered at UIS, which is up 11.5 percent from last year.

Each of these major steps in student enrollment brings the University closer to achieving its vision, she said.

“Part of strategic plan includes attracting and enrolling 6,000 students by the year 2012,” Leatherwood said. “And of those 6,000, we expect 4,000 of them to be taking courses on campus with 2,000 living in the residents’ halls and campus apartments.”