WSU sets another systemwide enrollment record

For the third year in a row, Washington State University enrolled a record number of students, with Pullman freshmen leading the surge.

The university has a total of 31,478 students across its campuses and other locations for the fall semester, which began Aug. 20. That’s an overall increase of 864 students, or 2.8 percent, and well above last year’s increase of 1.6 percent.

The bulk of that increase is on the Pullman campus, which has 736 more new students compared to last year, for a 3.6 percent climb. Pullman’s freshman class alone increased by 604 students to 4,543, a 15.3 percent jump from 2017.

“Washington State University provides a top-quality education at an affordable price and students, increasingly, are recognizing that,” said Provost and Executive Vice President Daniel J. Bernardo. “Not only did we see the largest freshman class in the history of the Pullman campus, but enrollment in the Honors College increased 10 percent and the number of Regents Scholars, our most prestigious award for incoming students, more than doubled.”

Overall, fall enrollment has increased or stayed the same since 2013, when there were 37 fewer students among the various locations.

Here’s a look at each of the campuses:

• WSU PULLMAN

  Total enrollment of 21,022 graduate and undergraduate students, a 3.6 percent increase over 2017.

• WSU VANCOUVER

  Overall enrollment edged up 0.9 percent to 3,577 despite a slight drop in the number of first-year students, 375 compared to last year’s 384.

• WSU TRI-CITIES

  Total enrollment dropped 5 percent to 1,841.

• WSU SPOKANE

  Led by continued growth of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine, total enrollment increased 3.8 percent to 1,677.

• WSU EVERETT

  The newest of the university’s campuses had the largest percentage increase, 23.9 percent, bringing total enrollment to 275.

• WSU GLOBAL CAMPUS

  Total enrollment climbed 2.6 percent to 3,086 students.

Systemwide, enrollment among ethnically diverse students hit 30 percent, up from 29.1 percent last fall. Tri-Cities has the most diverse campus, at 41.9 percent.

The number of first-generation students attending WSU also remains strong, holding steady at 33.8 percent of total enrollment systemwide and 37.4 percent among incoming freshmen, up from 37.3 percent last year.

Washington State University remains committed to serving the State’s residents with 82.1 percent of its undergraduate students coming from within the state.

The overall percentage of international students fell slightly, from 7.2 to 7.1 percent, while transfer students had a modest, 0.7 percent increase.

Fall 2018 Census Day Enrollment reports are available at the Office of Institutional Researchwebsite.

Contact:

• Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications, 509-595-1708, phil.weiler@wsu.edu.