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Enrollment numbers looking up

Fall 2006 enrollment numbers provided some welcome news to the campus—an increased student population. Sacramento State has nearly 600 more students this year than last year, according to recently released class size data from the Office of Academic Affairs.

The number of total enrolled students for Fall 2006 is 28,529, an increase from Fall 2005’s total enrollment of 27,932 students.

“The biggest increase we saw in total enrolled students was with the lower-division transfer students,” says Larry Glasmire, director of special programs and enrollment analysis in the Office of Academic Affairs. “We saw a 116 percent increase in that particular student population.”

Glasmire went on to say that all new student populations saw some increase this semester. First-time freshmen enrollment was up 5 percent, upper division transfer students were up 4 percent and graduate and credential students were up 9 percent. The University also saw an increase in diversity. Students of color represented 63 percent of the freshmen class (up from 60 percent last fall).

The average unit load increased as well, to 12.19 units from 12.14 units a year earlier, a trend that has been in effect for the past three years.

“We are still recovering from the budget cuts we had from 2002-04,” says Glasmire, “and we’re beginning to meet our enrollment objectives again.”

Glasmire believes the reasons for the increase in first-time freshmen and lower-division transfers were the University’s recruitment and streamlined admission processes and the increased number of class offerings for Accelerated College Entrance (ACE) Program students.

“Expansion of off-campus ACE classes was responsible for a great number of the additional new students,” says Glasmire. The ACE Program allows qualified high school students to enroll in classes at Sacramento State and earn university credits while completing their high school courses. Newly added ACE classes included sections in History, Physics and Astronomy, Child Development and Government.

Outreach, Admissions and Records also recently stepped up their recruitment efforts and admissions processes. “The key to Outreach, Admissions and Records’ success this year was communication,” says Emiliano Diaz, director of Outreach, Admissions and Records. “We had two goals in mind, which were to increase the opportunities for interacting and communicating with the students in the applicant pool and having more of a ‘physical presence’ on high school and community college campuses.

“We utilized Sac State students to make phone calls and stay in touch with students who were applying, letting them know what the next steps were so they were ready when they came. That made the admissions process a lot smoother and quicker. We also let them know early on that they needed to take placements tests as soon as possible, which was a major sticking point for students in earlier semesters and held up their admission to the University.”

Diaz also explained that extra personal attention helped when it came to recruiting on campuses with prospective students. “Admissions representatives would visit counselors and students and high schools and community colleges, and the reps had a lot of experience so they could anticipate a lot of the questions that came at them.

“The phone calls and campus visits underscored the University’s commitment to students, and the prospective students also understood that we cared about them.”