NU enrollment highest since 1996

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BY MELISSA LEE / Lincoln Journal Star

Enrollment at the University of Nebraska is on the rise for the fourth year in a row, a reflection of more sophisticated recruiting and stronger commitment to financial aid, NU President J.B. Milliken announced Friday.

The current total enrollment on NU’s four campuses and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis — 47,803 students — is the highest since 1996 and a 1.6 percent increase over 2007.

What’s more: Each of the four main campuses showed growth, and increases were seen university-wide in critical categories like first-time freshmen, undergraduates, graduate students and professional students.

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NU President J.B. Milliken

NU President J.B. Milliken

“I’m very pleased with enrollment,” Milliken said in an interview. “I think the campuses have done a really good job.”

He credited campus officers’ specialized recruiting techniques with luring more students to NU. Campuses now establish contact with students as early as middle school, and continue making personal connections throughout high school, an effective method, Milliken said.

Milliken also believes recent years’ single-digit tuition increases, which he calls “moderate and predictable,” have put students and families at ease with choosing NU.

And the university’s efforts to increase both public and private financial aid has made NU accessible to more families, he said.

For example, NU recently expanded its innovative Tuition Assistance Program, which promises aid to the most needy students.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln recorded its highest enrollment in a decade, with 23,573 students. That’s an increase of 600 students, or 2.6 percent, over last year.

The UNL college showing the highest percentage increase is the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources, with a 12.9 percent jump.

UNL’s incoming freshman class also has the highest average ACT score ever, 25.03, and five new freshmen earned perfect ACT or SAT scores. Campus leaders say that’s evidence more of the best and brightest students are choosing UNL.

Enrollment is up 0.4 percent at the Omaha campus, 1 percent in Kearney and 2 percent at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The only decrease was at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture, where enrollment fell nearly 13 percent.

UNMC’s enrollment of 3,189 is a record high, despite highly competitive admissions processes in a number of colleges, including dentistry, nursing and medicine.

Nebraska’s changing demographics pose a challenge for the future, Milliken said.

The number of high school graduates is expected to drop, and the number of Hispanics — historically underrepresented in higher education — is on the rise.

That means NU must work harder to increase Nebraska’s college-going rate and do a better job of focusing on underrepresented populations, Milliken said.

NU also must continue to target out-of-state students, he said, and follow through with a quality education that could help keep them in Nebraska after graduation.

“There is nothing more important to Nebraska’s future than increasing the number of students who go to college,” he said. “The only way Nebraska will be able to compete and be successful in the knowledge economy is to increase the educational attainment of our citizens.”

Reach Melissa Lee at 473-2682 or mlee@journalstar.com.