Enrollment tops 200,000 students for second year at MnSCU
More students of color enroll setting new record high
For the second consecutive fall, more than 200,000 students are enrolled in credit-bearing courses in the 31 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities – the second highest enrollment level ever, officials said today.
The state colleges and universities now enroll 200,716 students in credit-bearing courses, down slightly from last fall when 203,738 students were enrolled. An additional 220,000 students are expected to enroll in credit and noncredit courses across the state by the end of the current academic year, bringing the year’s total enrollment to about 420,000.
The slight enrollment decrease was not unexpected because so many of the students who enrolled at the start of the recession have not graduated. In 2011, 38,385 students graduated, up six percent from 2010.
The number of students of color rose to 43,141, up 4.6 percent and setting another record high. Students of color now make up 22 percent of students, up from 20.7 percent in fall 2010.
Online enrollment also rose to 55,554 students, an increase of 3.5 percent compared to fall 2010.
Because many students shifted from full-time to part-time status, full-year-equivalent enrollment is projected to decrease by 2.5 percent for the current year. (Full-year-equivalent enrollment is calculated by adding the credits taken by all students and dividing by the number of credits considered to be a full-time course load – 30 credits per year for undergraduates and 20 credits for graduate students.)
The colleges and universities project a full-year-equivalent enrollment of 154,091 in credit-bearing courses for the current year, compared with the actual full-year-equivalent enrollment of 158,060 for the 2010-2011 academic year.
The numbers released today are the official enrollment headcount of students taking credit-based courses on the 30th day of the fall semester.
Note: See pdf report attached, or go to the MnSCU website.
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