NEW ORLEANS – Today, the University of New Orleans (UNO) reported that they have seen a 15 percent increases in enrollment of new freshmen and new graduate students, which has led to the best year-to-year percentage change in total enrollment at the univeristy in eight years. The fall 2017 semester also represents the largest percentage increase in total undergraduate students at the university in eight years, reps said. The university’s total 2017 enrollment is 7,976 compared to 8,037 in the fall of 2016, a change of less than three-quarters of one percent.
“We are seeing significant increases in key areas and programs that are necessary for the University to create and sustain long-term enrollment growth, without sacrificing quality,” said John Nicklow, UNO president. “An enrollment turnaround is a multi-year challenge. The fact that our total enrollment is essentially even after only one full recruitment cycle means that our recently launched enrollment initiatives are having a measurable impact even more quickly than I had hoped."
“These enrollment figures indicate strong progress in reversing a far too long history of declines; it means we are nearly stabilized and poised for future growth," he continued. "I am so proud of our faculty and staff who have worked diligently to improve our recruitment and retention efforts.”
Here are some additional highlights of UNO's fall 2017 enrollment figures:
* The nearly one percent increase in undergraduate students (6,484 in 2017 vs. 6,442 in 2016) is the largest since 2009.
* There are 949 newly enrolled freshmen students who have an average ACT of 23 and high school GPA of 3.1. They are from 32 Louisiana parishes, 27 states and 16 countries.
* Out-of-state undergraduate students are up seven percent (590 in 2017 vs. 551 in 2016)
* Freshmen applications increased 16 percent in 2017 compared to 2016.
“We have new leadership in the area of enrollment services, and we are employing new tactics in how and when we communicate with prospective students and their parents,” said Nicklow. “We have also launched a new brand messaging and enrollment marketing campaign that we believe is already paying dividends. We are meeting exciting milestones as we seek to grow the University of New Orleans, and we already have several hundred applications for the fall 2018 semester at such an early date. I am very optimistic about our future.”
