Daniella Tebib
News Editor
After a steady decline in enrollment numbers, Murray State bounced back this semester.
Enrollment steadily decreased from fall 2016 until fall 2018. Fall 2018 numbers showed a 9 percent decrease from the fall 2017 freshman class.
However, this year’s freshman class showed a 7.7 percent increase from fall 2018, and an estimated 16.7% percent increase from the fall 2017 numbers, with a total of 1,420 freshman students.
New freshmen on campus said they chose Murray State because of the community.
“I decided to come to Murray State because I felt as if I was a person here and not a number,” Brooklyn Woolsey, freshman from Evansville, Indiana, said. “It’s just a small town feeling that reminds me of home.”
The University has also seen an increase in enrollment in new graduate students and transfer students. Graduate student rates saw an 11.2 percent increase from fall 2018 and transfer student rates saw a 10.2 percent increase compared to fall 2018, according to the press release.
President Bob Jackson attributes this increase to a number of things.
“A lot of hard work has been put in by a lot of great people here at Murray State University,” Jackson said. “When I started as interim president, in my first week we began with the Roads Scholar Program, where faculty, staff and administrators visited high schools all over the regions including other states like Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee… Being there, being seen and actively recruiting students is important because it is a very competitive environment.”
Jackson also said the University started the Racer Roadshow this summer where members of the University toured several cities in Kentucky and other states to boost enrollment. He said he thinks this in addition to heightened marketing efforts has resulted in higher enrollment numbers.
Jackson also said he believes the number of scholarships awarded could have been a factor in the increase in enrollment numbers.
“Based on recent University reports, a total of $117 million is awarded annually in financial aid and scholarships to Murray State students. Murray State provides many academic achievement scholarships as well as need-based scholarships and grants,” according to the press release.
Jackson said he plans to increase scholarships even more in the years to come after the University experienced a spike in donations.
Not only have enrollment numbers increased, but retention rates have also been positive.
“Compared to other comprehensive universities in Kentucky, we were no. 1 regarding retention rates from fall 2017 to fall 2018,” Jackson said.
However, Jackson said the recruitment efforts do not stop there. He and the University plan to continue improving campus.
“Enhancing campus and campus life is important for recruitment and retention,” Jackson said. “We plan to make major enhancements to Curris Center and Lovett Auditorium, which we will present to the Board or Regents at the upcoming meeting. We had a four year decline, so it’s going to take four years to bring that back up.”
