LU Enrollment Nears Pre-Rita Levels

NEWS RELEASE FROM LAMAR UNIVERSITY:

Lamar University’s fall 2007 headcount is 10,379 students, up 4.8 percent over last fall’s enrollment of 9,867 students and just slightly below the pre-Hurricane Rita headcount of 10,595 students in the fall of 2005.

The total semester credit hours students are enrolled in has risen 2.3 percent to 115,178 hours from last fall’s total of 111,739 hours.

“This headcount almost returns Lamar to pre-Hurricane Rita levels and reflects the fruits of several enrollment rebuilding initiatives,” said Kevin Smith, Lamar University’s senior associate provost. “We are very pleased. It is the result of a lot of hard work. We expect the momentum to continue into the spring semester and into the future.”

Enrollment rebuilding initiatives include new distance education sites in Baytown and Lumberton, more online courses and degrees, additional scholarships, new degree programs and the innovative partnership with Higher Education Holdings.

In partnership with Higher Education Holdings, Lamar provides teachers across the state with the opportunity to earn master’s degrees. As a result, the number of students in the College of Education and Human Development is 2,031, up 31 percent from last year’s headcount of 1,550 students.

New facilities, such as the spacious Sheila Umphrey Recreational Sports Center, the state-of-the-art dining hall and Lamar’s newest residence hall, Cardinal Village IV, also contributed to enrollment growth, Smith said.

“We’re attracting more students from outside the area,” Smith said. “We must offer them a nice place to eat, live and play. When you combine that with our strong academic programs, we have all the bases covered.”