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More students graduated from UMass Lowell last June than ever before in the University’s history. More new ones than ever have taken their place this fall; and more of those who were here already are staying on to graduate. And from the look of things, none of these trends show any signs of abating.
“The numbers are very exciting, very hopeful,” says Director of Undergraduate Admissions Kerri Johnston. “We’re doing a lot more outreach than ever before, both out of state and internationally. Academically, there’s more opportunity in the classroom, and more internships being offered. And student life – with nearly 120 student clubs now, and the [residence hall] living and learning communities – has probably never been richer. All in all, I think we’re just making ourselves more attractive, and more visible. And it’s showing some results.”
The results are everywhere you look. Undergraduate enrollment has increased by 10 percent – highlighted by a 2009 freshman class of just under 2,500, the largest ever. On the graduate level, the combined total of master’s degree and doctoral enrollments has also shown a 10 percent year-to-year increase. Over the past two years, across all classes, total student enrollment has grown by more than 20 percent – while the growth rate of new student enrollments has been even more impressive than that.
The goal for 2010, says Johnston – modest enough to permit the University’s teaching and living space to keep pace with the fast-burgeoning numbers – is to maintain this year’s freshman enrollment levels, while increasing the number of transfers by 5 percent or more. There were 936 transfer students this fall, a 14 percent increase over last year.
The main sources of transfers are the state’s 15 community colleges, of which the nearest two – Middlesex and Northern Essex -- provide the lion’s share of students. There were 250 transfer students this fall from Middlesex alone.
“We try to maintain a strong presence at the community colleges,” said Gerry Durkin, director of transfer admissions, speaking on his cell phone on the way to a college fair in Roxbury. “One appearance a month at least, at the first-tier schools, and probably once a semester at the others. And it’s a year-round push. Unlike with freshman enrollments, we get an active February class of students as well – we had 425 enroll for the spring semester last year.”
The spike in transfer enrollments, says Durkin – much like the increase among new freshmen – has a lot to do with what’s happening on campus these days:
“The changes these last couple of years have really made a difference. We’ve got the new academic buildings coming in, a growing athletic focus. There’s just a lot happening right now. That’s exciting. It creates lots of interest – which makes our job easier, of course.”
Meanwhile, as enrollments continue to grow across all sectors of the student population, what of those students who have been here all along? In 2008, the national freshman retention rate (the percentage of freshmen who return for their sophomore years) for all U.S. colleges, according to ACT, the independent educational assessment organization, was just under 66 percent. How does UMass Lowell fare against that number?
An increase of more than 15 percent - at 76 percent, for the same (2007-08) academic year. For this year, it was 81 percent, or more than 20 percent increase from the national average.
“That’s a very high number for a public institution,” Chancellor Marty Meehan told a reporter earlier this fall. “I think if we can get it up a little higher, we can compete with anyone at any time.”
An even more telling indicator is the so-called continuation rate, which measures retention across all four years of college. The rate for UMass Lowell, as of this fall, is 69.1 percent, roughly the same as the average for the nation’s colleges at large. And it is rising – up more than five percentage points (from 63.7) in the last two years alone.
Fifty-one percent of all the students who entered the University as freshmen in the fall of 2003 had graduated by this June (the six-year graduation rate). Just two years ago, in 2007, the rate was 44 percent. The result of this increase was predictable: the largest graduating class in history, with more than 2,200 degrees conferred at the 2009 commencement.
“What’s happening here is really, really positive,” says Johnston. “Students, parents, alumni – they’re all recognizing the improvements going on, not only academically but in the quality of our students’ lives. It’s an exciting time to be at the school.”
(This is the first in a series of articles looking at enrollment. Other articles explore the diverse faces behind the numbers and the generosity that's funding their time here.)