Fall enrollment down slightly

The Messenger 09.28.11

The University of Tennessee at Martin has almost 8,000 students enrolled for fall 2011.
A total of 7,913 students are enrolled for the fall semester — down 556 students from fall 2010.
The decline is primarily a result of changes in the university’s Dual Enrollment Program and a smaller graduate enrollment.
The fall 2011 total in-cludes increases in the fall enrollments for incoming freshmen and returning undergraduate students. The university has also experienced an increase in full-time equivalent enrollment on the main campus and in online undergraduate enrollment. Public higher education funding calculations are based on full-time equivalency.
“Although we continue to monitor enrollment levels, it is important to note that under the state’s new funding formula institutional focus has shifted to initiatives that will enhance our retention and graduation levels,” said Dr. Tom Rakes, UT Martin chancellor. “Even with this fall’s decrease in headcount enrollment, UT Martin’s enrollment levels reflect 30 percent growth over the past seven years.”
The fall enrollment also includes 1,275 freshmen on the  campus. First-time freshmen have an average 3.43 high school grade-point average, up slightly from 2010. There are 93 more undergraduate students returning, which represents a 2 percent increase. The university also experienced growth in on-campus undergraduate enrollment and online enrollment at the undergraduate level.
UT Martin continued its top-tier ranking for master’s level public universities in the South in the 2012 edition of America’s Best Colleges compiled by U.S.News & World Report. The new rankings also placed the university 20th among top public regional universities in the South.
In August, UT Martin was named as one of 135 institutions The Princeton Review recommends in its “Best in the Southeast” section of its website feature, “2012 Best Colleges: Region by Region.” The university has been named to the “Best in the Southeast” listing for nine consecutive years.

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