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Fall enrollment is official at more than 24,500

Sept. 23, 2009

KALAMAZOO--More than 24,500 students have enrolled at Western Michigan University for the fall 2009 semester.

The University's official total enrollment is 24,576. That figure includes a main campus enrollment of 22,623. The fall total also includes an enrollment of 3,616 in online programs and at regional sites.

The enrollment data reflects WMU's fall census, conducted Sept. 15, and confirms the University's longtime prediction that this fall's numbers would be within 1 percent of the previous year's number of 24,818.

The fall 2009 total includes the following significant changes.

• A 1.3 percent increase in graduate enrollment, including a 4.7 percent increase in the number of doctoral students, was recorded. The number of students pursuing doctoral degrees now exceeds 900--an increase of more than 65 percent in the past decade.
  
  
• An 18.2 percent increase in the number of nonresident undergraduates reflects successful recruiting initiatives in out-of-state areas such as Chicago as well as in the international arena. The overall increase in the number of nonresident students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels is 11.2 percent.
  
  
• Universitywide, both minority and international numbers have increased this fall. Minority enrollment now stands at nearly 13 percent--up more than half a percent from a year ago. International enrollment stands at just over 5 percent, also increasing by more than half a percent.

Beginning freshman enrollment this fall is 3,267, down in size from last year's extraordinarily large entering class. The decrease also was predicted by campus enrollment officials because of the economic downturn and the decreased number of graduating high school seniors in Michigan.

The beginning freshman average academic profile is similar but slightly higher than the profile of last year's class. Beginning freshman coming to WMU this fall hail from 77 Michigan counties, 27 additional states and 20 other nations.

WMU's overall enrollment includes students from all 83 Michigan counties, dozens of other states across the nation and nearly 90 other countries.

Media contact: Cheryl Roland, (269) 387-8400, cheryl.roland@wmich.edu

WMU News
Office of University Relations
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5433 USA
(269) 387-8400
www.wmich.edu/news