UAFS fall enrollment up 8%

Dr. Ray Wallace told the Fort Smith Rotary on Wednesday that a fall enrollment increase of 8% indicates that the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith is quickly becoming a “major” Arkansas university.

Wallace, provost and senior vice chancellor at UAFS, said fall enrollment was 7,329 students, with the number of full-time students up 12% and the number of students transferring from another college up 30%.

“This is turning out to be a major university. This is not the wee university at the end of the road,” Wallace told the Rotarians.

First time and full-year enrollment (true freshmen) was up 5%, and the high school concurrent student (students in high school and taking college courses at UAFS) enrollment is up 21%. According to a UAFS statement, enrollment in the Western Arkansas Technical Center (WATC) program increased 28%. WATC is a high school program for juniors and seniors in 18 school districts in Western Arkansas.

The official census day for enrollment numbers was Sept. 8.

Wallace said a key goal of UAFS Chancellor Dr. Paul Beran is to increase the retention rate by doing more to help incoming students complete the process of obtaining a degree. To that end, Wallace said the retention rate is up from 61% to 68%. He credited the increase to deans and other key faculty making personal contact with students through mentoring and other programs.

Wallace reminded the Rotarian group several times that the gains come relatively soon after the university transformed into a four-year degree-granting institution in 2002. He said two-year associate degree programs continue to be important, but student and community demand grows for four-year programs.

“We have a solid and ever-growing complement of four-year degree programs,” Wallace said.

In the UAFS statement, Wallace noted: "The university is obviously becoming the smart choice university for students in our service area, offering a full complement of two- and four- year programs, and our tuition makes us an attractive proposition for students and parents alike.”

While the increase in four-year programs boosts enrollment, Wallace did acknowledge that economic uncertainty is pushing more people to seek job security through better education.

And as a news tease, Wallace announced that the university is “considering and planning” graduate programs. Those could be available within 5 years, Wallace said.

Wallace also bragged to the Rotarians about faculty improvements, saying that 70% of the 222 full-time faculty members have been hired since 2002

"Our faculty ranks are increasing with more teacher/scholars who have completed their terminal degrees," Wallace said in the UAFS statement. "It is important to realize that there has been a 45 percent increase in the number of faculty hired since the university became a four-year institution in 2002, and at that time, fewer than 20 percent of our faculty had terminal degrees in their fields."

The Associated Press reported that Arkansas State University (Jonesboro) fall enrollment was up 6%. Enrollment at the University of Central Arkansas (Conway) fell more than 9%. The University of Arkansas at Little Rock said its enrollment increased 10% to 13,167 students.

Enrollment at all public and private universities in Arkansas has increase 13.4% between the 2004-2005 academic year (165,242 students) and the 2008-2009 academic year (187,441 students).