HOUGHTON – Fall
2015 enrollment at Michigan Technological University is 7,238, the highest the
school has seen in more than 30 years. Female enrollment is at a record high,
with women making up 26.9 percent of the student body. Female enrollment in the
College of Engineering rose to 26.7 percent, and the number of women first-year
students is at an all-time high.
Michigan
Tech, like public universities across Michigan, submitted its official fall
enrollment figures to the state last night.
University
officials believe that Tech’s increasing enrollment reflects the school’s high
job placement rate, the $62,800 median starting salaries earned by graduates
and a $66,100 return on investment over 20 years.
Retention High
First
to second year retention – the number of first year students who return for
their second year – reached a record 87 percent. First to second year retention
is a major predictor of student success
“We
have really focused on making student success our highest priority for the past
decade or so,” said Les Cook, vice president for student affairs and
advancement. “I think the numbers are a great indicator of progress. They
reflect the extent of our full commitment to students.”
Cook credited the
record retention rate to the development of the Wahtera Center for Student
Success, which provides success skills workshops, mentoring, tutoring and peer
counseling, the Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning, the Opie Information
Learning Commons and increased scholarship support.All are programs
funded by philanthropic gifts, he pointed out.
Record Number of Graduate Students
Michigan
Tech’s Graduate School also reported record growth for the seventh year in a
row. Graduate enrollment now stands at 1,521, the largest number of graduate
students in the University’s history. Driving the growth are 374 new
master’s degree students, a 23 percent increase over last year.
“This is the largest
class of first-time graduate students in Michigan Tech’s history,” said Provost
Jackie Huntoon, former dean of the Graduate School. “We have never enrolled
this many new graduate students in one semester. As always, this
success is due to the hard work of faculty and staff who are committed to
providing the best possible education for all of our students.”
New first-year
undergraduate enrollment rose 6.6 percent this year, with twice as many new students
seeking business degrees.Electrical engineering, mechanical
engineering technology and Tech’s health sciences programs in biological
sciences,biomedical engineering, and kinesiology and
integrative physiology also saw significant growth.
Freshman
ACT scores remain among the highest the school has ever seen at 26.7.
Student diversity,
including international students, now stands at 23 percent, with domestic
diversity at 8.2 percent, up from 7 percent last year.
Michigan Technological
University (www.mtu.edu) is a leading public research university developing new
technologies and preparing students to create the future for a prosperous and
sustainable world. Michigan Tech offers more than 130 undergraduate and
graduate degree programs in engineering; forest resources; computing;
technology; business; economics; natural, physical and environmental sciences;
arts; humanities; and social sciences.