Colorado State University officially has its largest incoming class, enrollment about flat
Though it was suspected when Colorado State University had to put incoming students in a nearby hotel, transformed common spaces into dorm rooms and hired additional staff to teach core classes, it’s now confirmed: The university welcomed its largest class in history this fall.
Interim Chief Academic Officer Roze Hentschell presented the school’s preliminary enrollment numbers for the 2022-23 school year at the CSU System Board of Governors meeting on Thursday. Those numbers showed a 7% increase over last year’s freshman class.
Despite the large increase in freshmen, total enrollment at the university stayed fairly flat. The total student headcount was 27,956, a slight decrease from last year’s 28,580 students.
The increase in freshmen is notable as CSU’s enrollment took a hit during the pandemic, which hurt the university’s revenue. And while overall enrollment didn't shift much, Hentschell said it's an accomplishment to stay flat following the pandemic.
Last year, first-year student enrollment increased by 13% compared to the previous year, 2020, in which CSU saw a nearly 12% decrease in freshmen and a 3.6% decrease overall.
But this year, the university’s flagship location welcomed 5,517 students, 60% of whom are Colorado residents; 500 students came from rural areas. CSU had previously announced it would prioritize attracting Colorado residents, first-generation students and rural students to diversify its student body.
“Students returning to campus in record numbers is wonderful news for our students, the state and its workforce, and it demonstrates how well people understand the long-term value of a college credential,” CSU System Chancellor Tony Frank said in a news release.
“For our campuses, this enrollment progress will also help to address the deep financial hits of the pandemic, from which we’re continuing to rebuild. But our ultimate goal is to see that all the students we enroll leave CSU with a diploma that will benefit them throughout their lives.”
This year’s entering class at the Fort Collins campus is 28% diverse, similar to last year’s entering diversity levels, and 25% of the class are the first in their families to attend college.
Not all news for CSU was positive, however.
Hentschell did tell the board that the first time, first-year student retention rate was down 1.6%. From fall to spring that retention rate is still at 84%. CSU has been pouring resources into increasing student success, and Hentschell said the attention on student success should hopefully help that number in the future.
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Pueblo campus saw first-year increase, CSU Global saw enrollment dips
CSU Pueblo saw its largest class of first-year students in four years with 645 enrolling, a 12% increase from the year prior. The campus also saw a 26% increase in transfer students, but its number of continuing students declined.
Overall, Pueblo's campus size was essentially the same as last fall with 3,529 students total.
CSU Global, the System's online offering, was the only campus that didn't see an increase in first-year students.
Global runs on a different academic system than the other campuses, but the total headcount for the first half of fall enrollment was 7,267, which showed an early decrease of about 10%.
The numbers presented by all campuses to the Board of Governors were preliminary, and final census numbers are set to be presented in December.
More:Here's what we learned from Interim President Rick Miranda's fall address to CSU community
Molly Bohannon covers city government for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: CSU officially has its largest first-year class in history
