During the fall 2017 semester, census data showed a 9.3 percent increase in freshman enrollment and a 12.3 percent increase in transfer enrollments from fall 2016.
“We’ve got a lot of interest in UW this spring,” University of Wyoming Admissions Director Shelley Dodd said.
While numbers are still being gathered and finalized by enrollment management, it is estimated that the freshman population will increase by approximately 550 students from spring 2017, with a projected retention increase of 1.2 percent.
To try and understand what might have created this increase, various freshman from the University of Wyoming were asked what prompted them to go to school here.
“I’ve always been familiar with Wyoming and they have a really good engineering program,” Hope Farris, a freshman from Greeley, Colorado studying architectural engineering, said.
Adah Jordan, a freshman from Gillette, Wyoming, studying Physiology, said, “I decided to come to UW because with in-state tuition it’s really affordable and it’s close to home.”
Affordability is a contributing factor for students attending the University of Wyoming.
Sydney Comet, a freshman from Aurora, Colorado, said, “It was cheaper to go here than anywhere in Colorado and they gave me a big scholarship.”
Each student expressed a desire to complete their education at UW.
With the recent suggestion made to the board of trustees to lower out-of-state tuition, hopefully the university’s increasing enrollment will continue to trend upwards.
“I think it’s really exciting,” Dodd said. “We know how great this university is and I love when we’re able to reach out to prospective students and families that don’t know a whole lot about UW. Once we communicate with them and recruit them and work with them, they are really impressed with UW.”
