Enrollment at Mississippi Valley State University is now up to 2,310 students, an increase of 4 percent over the fall of 2014.
MVSU, the smallest of Mississippi’s public universities, registered the highest percentage of growth in the state.
“This year’s enrollment numbers show that we are consistently making strides to improve the enrollment deficit faced in the Valley,” said MVSU President Dr. William Bynum. “MVSU is in the business of producing high-quality global competitors.”
According to MVSU’s department of institutional research, the most popular programs at the university are business administration, health, physical education, social work, biology and criminal justice.
Overall, Mississippi’s public university system has achieved a record enrollment of 81,132 students — up 1,428, or nearly 1.8 percent, over last year.
“Record enrollment indicates that students understand the value of higher education and the impact this investment will have on their futures,” said Commissioner of Higher Education Glenn F. Boyce in a statement released Thursday.
Despite higher overall system enrollment, some individual schools’ student bodies are shrinking. Enrollment is down 4.3 percent at Delta State University and by about 1 percent each at University of Southern Mississippi and Alcorn State.
However, overall university enrollment is 17 percent higher than it was 10 years ago, which Boyce said was a positive sign for a state where the number of college-educated residents has long trailed national averages.
“While these figures reflect fall enrollment, which is typically the largest single semester, it does not tell the entire story,” said Boyce. “The larger story is there are many more students who attend the universities during the course of a full academic year.”
• Contact Nick Rogers at 581-7235 or nrogers@gwcommonwealth.com.
