John Fraire, WSU’s vice president of Student Affairs and Enrollment, told the House Higher Education Committee this morning that university enrollment will continue to climb with a focus on reaching underserved populations.
This fall’s incoming freshman class of 4,079 fell just short of last year’s record of 4,176 with both easily eclipsing the previous record of 3,411. Of those students in this year’s class, more than 31 percent are students of color, a bit higher than last year’s mark of 27 percent and twice what it was five years ago.
In particular, growth has been seen among Hispanic students and students of two or more races.
Increasing enrollment is due strictly to deliberate efforts to shift resources to enhance recruitment efforts, including ones that brought students from traditionally underserved populations to campus while still in high school.
“We started recruiting everywhere throughout the state,” Fraire told the committee during a morning long work session.
Fraire said the university will continue to strive to enroll future freshman classes that exceed 4,000 students.