1st-day enrollment increases for 7th consecutive year

The first day of class set a new enrollment record on NDSU Campus for the seventh consecutive year.

The first-day enrollment total was reported as being 14,319 August 22. This count encompasses all students enrolled at the university, including international and graduate students.

This is a rise from the first-day enrollment of 2011, which was 14,240 students, according to a press release from NDSU University Relations.

According to enrollment reports on the registrar’s website, this is a big jump from 2003 as well, when just 11,143 students were officially enrolled at NDSU.

“This represents a purposefully moderated rate of growth,” President Dean L. Bresciani said in a press release. “NDSU continues to be the choice of students who want a traditional full-time college experience in a demanding research university environment.”

Out of the 14,319 students that enrolled at NDSU, more than 3,000 of those are new students to the university, nearly 2,500 of those are freshmen and about 750 are transfer students.

The number of freshmen has increased by 1.2 percent since last year, while transfer students have increased by 7.7 percent.

There are also approximately 1,000 international students, 1,900 graduate students, and more than 8,000 returning students.

The first-day enrollment report also states that about 95 percent of all students are in traditional classes. This means that most students are taking classes that are offered in a classroom with face-to-face teaching and communication.

Official enrollment counts will be taken four weeks into the semester for a more accurate reading of the student body.

Jobey Lichtblau, director of admissions, said that the first-day enrollment numbers only differ slightly from the official census counts. These records will be available to the public on Sept. 18.

View the accompanying graph to see official census counts of past years.