Tarleton sees decrease in enrollment for spring 2013
By Aimee Kanode –
The fall 2012 semester was record breaking for Tarleton State University, as student enrollment exceeded 10,000 on campus and online. When officials counted up all the students for spring 2013, however, enrollment had dropped back under 10,000.
On the 18th day of class, the university took stock of its enrollment and the total was 9,742 students. This is 533 students fewer from the fall semester, enrollment peaked at 10,275.
Information gained from Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management, Dr. David Weissenburger shows on average the university loses 6 percent of students from the fall to the spring semesters. The 533 students Tarleton lost this year put the enrollment decrease at 5.19 percent, so even though enrollment fell below 10,000, the decline was still below average.
(Landon Haston, Texan News Service)
Compared to another Texas university, Tarleton ranks well with University of North Texas, which experienced a 5.77 percent decrease between fall and spring semesters this year. Not only did Tarleton lose fewer students than UNT, but the spring 2013 drop was slightly smaller than the 5.21 percent drop the year before.
Even though the goal wasn’t kept for more than one semester, university officials hope enrollment will reach 10,000 again in the fall. On Feb. 7, Tarleton reported 4,563 applications received for new and transfer students were up 14 percent from last fall.
Compared to previous years, Weissenburger said, “more than 60 percent of the applicants will be admitted and of those students at least 50 percent of them will be attending Tarleton in the fall.”
With new student applications continually rising, Tarleton should be able to reach and maintain 10,000 students in the next few years. Weissenburger seems hopeful about reaching this goal and said the university will be ready for it as well.
Tarleton’s record 10,000 student enrollment included the Stephenville campus as well as online, Fort Worth, Waco and Midlothian.
Tarleton had 7,676 students on the Stephenville campus last fall. The university hopes that by 2020 there will be more than 10,000 students on Stephenville’s campus alone.
Aimee Kanode is an Agricultural Communications major from Haxtun, Colorado.
Edited by Karley Hardin, Katherine Gibbs, Cheyenne Berry
Editor’s Note: A correction was made to reflect Weissenburger’s quote that “60 percent of of the applicants will be admitted…” – rather than the previously published 6 percent.
