Enrollment hits 19,000 students
Niketa Reed
Issue date: 9/19/08 Section: News
The UA enrollment level has reached new heights and presents challenges for the university.
The record, established the third week of classes, reveals that more than 19,000 students are enrolled at the UA, according a university press release. This places the university at an all-time high in recruitment of freshmen, and nonresident and minority students.
"Research shows that American public research universities, like the University of Arkansas, benefit from larger enrollments to support a wide range of academic majors and research, both of which benefit the students and the states that enjoy these universities," said Karen Hodges, interim admissions director.
"More students mean more of the best kinds of recruiters: University of Arkansas students and alumni who tell their friends, 'You've got to go to the University of Arkansas,'" she said.
The new record sets a higher bar for college recruiters at the university. Strategies in recruiting students for the UA have changed over time, in terms of multimedia resources and online social networks.
"All the areas of the university that recruit rely heavily on data for guidance of where and how to best recruit," Hodges said. "For examples, where is high school enrollment growing, and what are demographic shifts in the population? These and other data will shape our strategies."
"What universities are finding, including the University of Arkansas, is that there are some students out there who do their college shopping completely online," Hodges said. "Therefore, we are ever vigilant to what we have on our Web page and this year both began Facebook and MySpace pages and worked with YOUniversity to showcase our campus and students.
"Even for the majority of students who visit campuses, they expect information on their terms," she said. "While parents still respond to and expect print promotional materials, students opt for quick information important to them and readily available via the Web."
The record, established the third week of classes, reveals that more than 19,000 students are enrolled at the UA, according a university press release. This places the university at an all-time high in recruitment of freshmen, and nonresident and minority students.
"Research shows that American public research universities, like the University of Arkansas, benefit from larger enrollments to support a wide range of academic majors and research, both of which benefit the students and the states that enjoy these universities," said Karen Hodges, interim admissions director.
"More students mean more of the best kinds of recruiters: University of Arkansas students and alumni who tell their friends, 'You've got to go to the University of Arkansas,'" she said.
The new record sets a higher bar for college recruiters at the university. Strategies in recruiting students for the UA have changed over time, in terms of multimedia resources and online social networks.
"All the areas of the university that recruit rely heavily on data for guidance of where and how to best recruit," Hodges said. "For examples, where is high school enrollment growing, and what are demographic shifts in the population? These and other data will shape our strategies."
"What universities are finding, including the University of Arkansas, is that there are some students out there who do their college shopping completely online," Hodges said. "Therefore, we are ever vigilant to what we have on our Web page and this year both began Facebook and MySpace pages and worked with YOUniversity to showcase our campus and students.
"Even for the majority of students who visit campuses, they expect information on their terms," she said. "While parents still respond to and expect print promotional materials, students opt for quick information important to them and readily available via the Web."
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