News

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has recorded its third-highest all-time enrollment with 14,142 students registered for fall 2016.

 “In the ultra-competitive higher education marketplace in which SIUE is competing and combined with other factors beyond our control, we are proud to maintain total enrollment above 14,000,” said Dr. Randy Pembrook, SIUE chancellor. “We have increases in all of our undergraduate schools and college which is a positive sign toward future growth. This also speaks to the faith that families and students have in SIUE and our exciting campus environment.”

The University registered a less than one percent drop (123 students) from its all-time high of 14,265 students for the fall 2015 semester. The second all-time enrollment number was 14,235 for fall 2011.

Three of SIUE’s undergraduate schools have record enrollment for fall 2016:

• The School of Engineering increased 8.59 percent (125 students) over fall 2015 and enrolls 1,589 undergraduates
• The School of Nursing rose 4.26 percent (56 students) over fall 2015 and serves 1,371 undergraduates
• The School of Education, Health and Human Behavior boosted enrollment by 2.88 percent (36 students) over last year serving 1,298 students.

Meanwhile, the School of Business grew 6.24 percent (78 students) and reached its highest enrollment since 2001, while the College of Arts and Sciences grew 1.54 percent (39 students).

SIUEs professional schools of Pharmacy (321 students) and Dental Medicine (204 students) each have capped enrollment capacity and have met or exceeded their enrollment goals for the fall.

 “Our number of continuing undergraduate students bumped up about 1.6 percent from last fall,” said Scott Belobrajdic, associate vice chancellor for enrollment management.  “We worked extremely hard to meet students’ needs and keep them engaged with the campus community. We are getting more students into majors sooner than ever before. The traditional residential campus experience, including the vibrant NCAA Division I athletics program, is attracting a great deal of attention.”

 “About half of our students are graduating with no loan debt while earning an average starting salary of $46,800 dollars per year,” Belobrajdic stated.  “Average loan indebtedness for those with loans is about $ 20,000. More families and employers are understanding that all of our schools, and the College of Arts and Sciences have the same exact national and international accreditations as private institutions charging $40,000 and $50,000 a year in tuition and fees. When they compare our accreditation, tuition and fees (approximately $10,700 annually), residential campus experience and starting salaries head-to-head, SIUE is an extremely attractive option.”

SIUE Fall 2016 Enrollment Facts and Figures

• Freshman Class is the 8th largest with 1,935 students earning a mean ACT of 23.4
• New transfer students total is the 1,403, the second highest all-time
• Freshman to sophomore retention rate was 72.3 percent
• International student enrollment reached 392 students
• Student body reporting a diverse cultural background:
  • 13 percent Black or African American overall
  • 15 percent Black or African American in the freshman class
  • 4 percent Hispanic or Latino overall
  • 5 percent Hispanic or Latino in the freshman class
  • 3 percent multi-ethnic overall
  • 5 percent multi-ethnic in the freshmen class.

• Credit hours delivered online are growing: 10 percent of all credit hours for fall 2016 delivered online compared to 8 percent for fall 2015

Photo: SIUE Freshman Class of 2020.