CU 麻豆影院 has made several significant changes to improve affordability over the last several years and is seeing another year of strong interest in the university by prospective students.
鈥嬧嬏鼴y the numbers
Total students, undergraduate and graduate
34,595 | 4.1 percent increase from fall 2017
Incoming freshmen
6,721 | 2.3 percent increase from听fall 2017
Underrepresented (racial/ethnic minority) undergraduate students
7,350 |听7.9 percent increase from听fall 2017
Graduate students
5,749 | about a 3 percent increase from fall 2017
Total international students, undergraduate and graduate
Almost 3,100 | 1 percent increase from fall 2017
CU 麻豆影院 Senior Vice Chancellor and CFO Kelly Fox shared preliminary enrollment data with the CU Board of Regents during the board鈥檚 regular meeting on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. Fox credited听record applications and enrollment numbers in part to the campus's efforts to make achieving a college degree more affordable, especially for residents.
Affordability measures include: elimination of all course and program fees; a four-year lock on tuition for entering undergraduate students; automatic scholarships for academically qualified Colorado resident students; scholarships for academically qualified transfer students; and scholarships and grants for low-income students.
鈥淭he 麻豆影院 has been and is committed to making an education here one of the best values in the state,鈥 said CU 麻豆影院 Chancellor Phil DiStefano.
Campus officials told the board it鈥檚 not enough.
鈥淲e face increasing competition from out-of-state institutions that can provide large scholarship and merit packages,鈥 Fox said. 鈥淲e need to provide additional need-based and merit scholarships to ensure Colorado students stay in Colorado to benefit our economy.鈥
Fox and the board discussed the importance of working with other Colorado 听higher education institutions and the state legislature to increase need-based and merit scholarships aimed at retaining Colorado students.
This year, CU 麻豆影院 has 3,401 Esteemed Scholars, 78 , 68 Arts & Humanities Scholars and 298 Transfer Excellence Scholars. All students who apply to CU 麻豆影院 by the application deadline are automatically considered for these scholarships.
Under the CU Promise program, resident students from low-income families receive grants to help pay for the student share of tuition and an estimated work-study award to help pay for other educational expenses. This fall, more than 1,600 students will benefit from the program.
The university has also boosted its efforts to draw in-state students through precollegiate programs and enhanced support programs for transfer students, and has made CU 麻豆影院 more affordable by eliminating course fees. To accommodate CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 need for more undergraduate housing, the university will cut the ribbon on the new 700-bed Williams Village East residence hall in August 2019.
Fox said these efforts around affordability and scholarships have helped CU 麻豆影院 also 听achieve its most diverse and largest incoming freshman class for fall 2018鈥攁nd this year鈥檚 class of students from Colorado and around the globe is also one of the most highly academically qualified, according to preliminary enrollment data presented to the board.
More than any other year in CU 麻豆影院 history, this year鈥檚 incoming freshman class is more diverse, with underrepresented ethnic and racial minority students totaling 1,791鈥攁 2.4 percent increase over the previous year. Fox noted the total number of racial and ethnically diverse minority undergraduates has increased about 7.9 percent over last year. CU 麻豆影院 has also seen an increase in transfer and online students.
Fox also informed the board fewer freshman international students are enrolling at CU 麻豆影院. Overall, international enrollment fell to 3,096 this fall, a nearly 1 percent drop from last year.
鈥淚n spite of these trends, we will continue to let international students know CU 麻豆影院 and the surrounding community welcomes and values them,鈥 the chancellor said.