College enrollment on the rise

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) announced Monday that its enrollment numbers for fall 2008 increased by 11,896 total students, an increase of 8.48%.
“The recent change in the nation’s economic climate is certainly a factor contributing to these increases,” said Commissioner of Higher Education William Sederburg. “When job opportunities lessen, people often return to college for more education or training. Higher education plays a critical role in the economic vitality of our state. An investment in today’s college students yields tremendous returns in our future economy.”
The budget-related full-time equivalent (FTE) headcount, which approximates the number of students enrolled full-time (15 semester hours for undergraduate students and 10 semester hours for graduate students) per semester, also increased significantly by 2,717 FTE system-wide, this figure is used by USHE in seeking state-supported funding for higher education (see attached table).
Part of the large increase in non-budget related enrollment is due to the method by which students are counted. According to Sederburg, “We are standardizing our approach so that in future years we get better comparative data in this category.” Non-budget related enrollment includes concurrent enrollment and programs financed strictly by tuition.
“With enrollments increasing in the face of four-percent budget cuts, this will be a challenging year for our presidents,” Commissioner Sederburg stated, “Fortunately, Utah has very capable, experienced and dedicated presidents leading each of our colleges and universities.”
“As a community college, we have experienced tremendous growth in a variety of programs, especially in our career and technical training classes,” observed Cynthia Bioteau, President of Salt Lake Community College, “The current enrollment growth we are experiencing as a higher education system is reflective of our institutions being a gateway to economic recovery.”
“Utah Valley University continues on the same growth trajectory this academic year as it has the past few years,” said Liz Hitch, Interim President of Utah Valley University, “our recent transition from a state college to university has allowed us to expand and add programs that better meet the growing student demands of our region.”
The Utah System of Higher Education includes nine of its 10 public colleges and universities in its enrollment summary: The University of Utah, Utah State University, Weber State University, Southern Utah University, Snow College, Dixie State College, College of Eastern Utah, Utah Valley University and Salt Lake Community College. Numbers for the Utah College of Applied Technology are calculated differently and reported separately.