Emporia State University has 97 more students than it did at this time last spring, the university reported today.
The increase kicks the university up to a total of 6,120 students, its highest total in 35 years. Of those, 4,611 take classes on the ESU campus while the remaining 1,509 are off-campus students.
“Our excellent faculty and staff work very hard to provide an excellent learning and living environment,” ESU President Michael Lane said in a press release. “This increase in enrollment reaffirms our values of placing the education of our students at the forefront of our mission.”
Jim Williams, ESU’s vice president for student affairs, said he was pleased to see that the on and off-campus figures went up by a similar amount. The university has 49 more off-campus students than last spring and 48 more off-campus ones.
“There seems to be a balance in the enrollment,” Williams said.
In general, this spring was a triumph for small Kansas universities. Fort Hays State University saw its enrollment rise by 582 students, fueled partially by an increase in international students, while Pittsburgh State University experienced an 87-student increase. By contrast, enrollment at the University of Kansas fell by 119, Wichita State’s declined by 184 and Kansas State University lost 297 students from last spring.
The new students that are coming in tend to be drawn from out of state. The number of Kansas students attending Kansas state universities went down by 808 this spring. Out-of-state enrollment increased by 974.
In that regard, ESU was typical — it lost 31 Kansas students and gained 128 out-of-state students.
Reggie Robinson, the president and chief executive of the Kansas Board of Regents, applauded the increase but said it also underlined the needs of Kansas universities. The regents have been lobbying the Legislature to increase funding for university maintenance.
“Our state universities continue to experience increased enrollments while campus facilities frequently do not meet student needs,” Robinson said in a written statement today. “Students are preparing for an increasingly challenging and competitive job market in buildings that are vastly outdated and in a state of disrepair.
This is the eighth year that Emporia has reported an enrollment gain, Williams said. He added that one reason ESU has continued to draw students is that it’s small, but not too small.
“For our students, we’re big enough to be exposed to many things, but small enough to be able to participate in many activities,” Williams said.