By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
Bowling Green State University Faculty Senate opened the new academic year hearing some positive, if preliminary, numbers about enrollment.
Cecilia Castellano, vice president for strategic enrollment planning, reported in response to a question from President Rodney Rogers that as of today the university has 6,648 new students.
That includes traditional first year students, transfer students, more than 200 in the Firelands Pathways program, high school students taking College Credit Plus courses, and students taking courses through BGSU eCampus.
“We have every reason to be pleased,” Rogers said.
Interim Provost John Fischer reported the numbers in more details but still in broad strokes, because they can still “wobble,” he said. Students are still enrolling in College Credit Plus and eCampus and some students are deciding to leave BGSU.
The official enrollment numbers will be announced on Monday the 15th day of the semester.
Still administrators couldn’t hold back the good news.
For the fifth year in a row, Fischer said, this is “the most academically prepared entering class we’ve had.” That includes an increase number of top scholars who have an ACT score of 27 or higher and a GPA above 3.7.
Programs such as Forensic Science and Politics, Philosophy, Economics and Law are “resonating with students who are looking for rigorous academic programs.”
This is the most diverse class, Fischer said, with 23 percent being students of color. He added: “We can’t just recruit students in, we have to create the environment that supports and welcomes them and helps them meet their academic and career goals while they’re here.”
Later, in response to a question, Castellano said that the number of international students, both undergraduate and graduate, has increased about 10 percent. That bucks a national trend. She cited China, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia as the countries leading the way. She also said that more international graduate students are opting to stay to complete their degrees.
Fischer said that the College of Technology. Architecture and Applied Engineering has seen a 35-percent growth in overall student population. That reflects an interest in the eCampus and in the growth of aviation and mechatronics.
The College of Musical Arts, BGSU’s smallest college, is also seeing double digit growth.
Fischer also said BGSU expects to see an increase in the retention rate. That measures the number of first-year students who return for their sophomore year. That number is expected to rise to just over 77 percent.
The College of Business and the College of Arts and Science have seen particular progress in that area.
That’s especially notable for the College of Arts and Sciences, the largest college. “For a college the size of Arts and Sciences, that’s a hard number to move.”
