Surge in new undergraduates, transfers, graduate students mark significant increase in enrollment at EMU; average GPA increases
by Pamela Young, Published September 22, 2009
YPSILANTI — Eastern Michigan University’s overall enrollment has surged 4.26 percent for the 2009-10 school year. As of Sept. 22, 22,859 students are enrolled for fall 2009 compared to 21,926 at the same time last year, an increase of 933 students. Enrollment is up at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
“We are extremely pleased with the increase in enrollment,” said EMU President Susan W. Martin. “We’ve worked very hard to keep Eastern affordable while maintaining and improving the quality of our programs. Our tuition increase was the lowest among Michigan’s 15 public universities, only $10 more a credit hour, or 3.8 percent.”
Final reports for fall 2009 indicate that 4,683 new undergraduate students are enrolled for fall 2009 compared to 4,198 at the same time last year, an 11.55 percent increase. As of Sept. 19, the total undergraduate count is 17,752 compared to 17,206 in fall 2008, a 3.17 percent increase.
There are 1,450 new graduate students enrolled, compared to 1,239 the previous year, for a total graduate count of 5,107 for fall 2009. Last year, there were 4,720 graduate students enrolled. This represents an 8.2 percent increase over 2008.
In addition, the average grade point average of incoming freshmen is 3.08 this fall, compared to 3.04 last year. More than 55 percent of EMU’s incoming freshmen have GPAs above 3.0. This is up 50 percent from 2008.
“The enrollment increase is a direct result of our programs, our outreach and our retention efforts,” said Bernice Lindke, vice president of student affairs and enrollment management. “We’ve also offered a record amount of financial aid this year in addition to the low tuition increase.”
In addition to the low tuition increase, a number of other factors contributed to EMU’s successful enrollment efforts, including:
- The number of transfer students resulting from EMU’S 94 articulation (transfer) agreements with 14 of the 28 community colleges throughout Michigan, two community colleges in Ohio and one technical college in Windsor, Ontario.
- The new GI Bill and EMU’s comprehensive veterans center, which serves returning veterans coming back to school. EMU was named one of the country’s top “military friendly” schools by “GI Jobs” magazine for 2010.
- The availability of evening and online courses and programs. Credit hours for online classes increased by 28 percent.
- The increased number of open houses and programs for prospective students, including those returning for second careers.
- The availability of classes offered at off-site locations in such diverse areas as Brighton, Detroit, Flint, Jackson, Monroe, Livonia and Traverse City.
- An increase of $1,929,000 in institutional financial aid. The University expects to award a total of $ 25,560,000 this year, a record amount. EMU awarded $23,631,000 in financial aid last year.
- A diverse variety of events and services geared toward students, including career services, a mentor program, opportunities for research and a small faculty to student ratio.
“This year has gotten off to such an exciting start,” said Lindke. “We’ll keep the momentum going by offering more engaging programs and activities for our students, including the Laugh Lounge, Friday night movies, enriching volunteer experiences and interesting excursions.”
