University Park, Pa. -- Consistently one of America's most popular universities, Penn State's status has been confirmed in another year of enrollment gains. University-wide enrollment this fall totals 90,609, including 85,600 students in resident instruction programs and an additional 5,009 students enrolled in Penn State's World Campus during the past year.
"Students pursuing college degrees appreciate the value of a Penn State education and are choosing to attend Penn State in growing numbers," said Rodney Erickson, the University's executive vice president and provost.
To adjust for the "bubble" caused by last year's higher-than-expected acceptance rate among students admitted to the University Park campus, the admission of freshman students this year was moderated so that total campus enrollment in fall 2007 is up by a more modest rate of 255 students. This fall's University Park enrollment is 42,294, of which 36,027 are undergraduates and 6,267 are graduate students. The University Park total does not include 255 students who are studying abroad and 733 other students pursuing off-campus programs in fall 2007.
Enrollment gains were experienced at most of Penn State's campuses across the Commonwealth, with aggregate enrollment growth of 1,517 students at the University's 19 predominantly undergraduate Commonwealth Campuses. Overall total enrollment at those campuses is 33,149.
Enrollment at The Dickinson School of Law this fall is 464 students at the Carlisle campus and 211 at University Park, the latter included in the overall University Park total enrollment figure. Enrollments of medical students and graduate students in the College of Medicine in Hershey also experienced growth.
Of particular interest is the growth among students participating in online distance education programs. This growth is reflected in the count of those who are enrolled only through the World Campus and not simultaneously enrolled in resident instruction classes. This year, the 5,009 students enrolled exclusively in the World Campus represent a 6.6 percent increase over last year.
Minority student enrollment also saw gains, a continuing trend at the University. Overall, minority enrollment grew 5 percent (510 students). Most significant was the University-wide increase among Hispanic students, 11 percent higher than last year's total. Enrollment of African-American students rose 4 percent from the 2006-07 year. A total of 11,805 minority students are pursuing a Penn State education.
The enrollment data were derived from a yearly "snapshot" of the University's student headcount captured at the end of the sixth week of fall semester classes to allow for beginning-of-semester enrollment adjustments.
Charts of the enrollment snapshot are available at http://imagearchive.psu.edu/displayimage.php?album=1481&pos=0 online.
A more detailed enrollment picture will be presented to the University's Board of Trustees at its next meeting on Friday, Nov. 2, which will then be posted at http://www.budget.psu.edu/FactBook online.