Student retention work helps ESU post ninth consecutive spring enrollment gain
Efforts concentrated on encouraging students already enrolled at Emporia State University to stay in school and finish their degrees are paying off in the form of a spring semester enrollment gain this year.
ESU’s spring enrollment hit 6,154 students on the 20th day of classes, the official headcount-tallying day for institutions of higher education governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. Not since 1972 has Emporia State’s spring semester enrollment been higher. And the latest figures augment a trend of spring semester enrollment gains that ESU has posted during the last nine years.
The spring 2008 enrollment figure tops last spring semester’s tally by 34 students. ESU reports increases in the number of fulltime students this spring, compared with last year’s figures. In addition, the number of credit hours generated by students increased.
Emporia State was credited in the recent National Survey of Student Engagement as an institution that enables close partnerships and communication between students and faculty. It is that kind of effort that connects students with ESU and makes them want to continue their education, said Dr. Michael R. Lane, ESU president.
“All of this points to the fact that our retention efforts are working,” said Lane. “I’m gratified that the work our Student Advising Center (SAC) and the Center for Student Success are doing with students is helping them complete their education.”
SAC staff members keep close ties with students during their college careers, helping them work through academic goals, selecting a major and degree, and providing other assistance influencing academic achievement. The Center has received significant external recognition over the years, most recently last year’s Outstanding Advising Technology Innovation Certificate of Merit from the National Academic Advising Association.