January 29, 2003

BOISE STATE SPRING ’03 ENROLLMENT SETS ANOTHER ALL-TIME STATE RECORD

Limited resources and fewer classes have not diminished the demand for an education at Boise State as the university set yet another state enrollment record today.

Boise State’s spring 2003 enrollment is 17,745, an increase over last spring of more than 900, or 5.4 percent.

Interestingly, while a university’s enrollment typically drops from a fall semester to the ensuing spring semester, the spring ’03 numbers also surpass Boise State’s fall 2002 enrollment. The last two times the spring total exceeded the previous fall total were in 1999 and 1981.

In the last two years Boise State has posted an average increase of 4.6 percent for its fall and spring semesters, more than double the 2 percent per year it typically plans for, said Dean of Enrollment Services Mark Wheeler. This has resulted in the addition of 1,800 students, the vast majority of whom are full time, he added.

Boise State’s enrollment, Wheeler noted, continues to post impressive numbers in several areas: 

• The number of students taking classes at the university’s Canyon County Center increased to 1,695, up 16 percent.

• The number of graduate students rose to 1,897, an increase of 19 percent.

• The number of students taking classes as part of Boise State’s "Electronic Campus" increased to 1,936, up 37 percent.

"This semester’s enrollment would have been even higher if the university were able to offer more classes," Wheeler said. "Due to budget cuts resulting in fewer faculty, the university could not offer all the classes students wanted."

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Provost Daryl Jones credited the university’s students and faculty for helping to maintain managed growth. "We commend our students for understanding the need for flexibility and taking classes at times and locations that were not always their first choice," he said. "Furthermore, we thank our faculty for picking up the added workload."

In an effort to focus limited resources on those students most likely to benefit, Boise State is implementing higher admissions standards starting with those applying for the fall ’03 semester. The new standards, Wheeler said, will make degree-seeking admission to Boise State’s undergraduate programs the most competitive among Idaho’s public universities.

Students who do not meet the standards will be steered toward other options, including participating in a new Summer Bridge program, exploring programs in applied technology areas, or attending as part-time nondegree-seeking students.

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Mark Wheeler

Enrollment Services

426-1630

Bob Evancho

University Relations

426-1643

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