Mississippi State University officials expect an increase in freshman enrolled for the upcoming fall semester. Vice president of student affairs Bill Kibler said the university estimates that 2,200 students are expected to enroll in the fall. The university has seen a steady increase in freshman enrollment since 2003.
“MSU’s plan of a measured growth of about 300 to 500 students a year appears to be on target for the fall of 2007,” Kibler said. “Based on applications and registration numbers we can [predict] the size of the freshman class, and it looks like enrollment is going to be up.”
The increase of incoming freshmen would bring total enrollment to about 16,500 students.
According to the Institutional Research Office, there are currently 16,206 students enrolled at MSU.
Kibler said he attributes the growth to a concentrated effort by the university to recruit students on an individual basis.
“At a lot of schools, a kid will come to visit with his family and he or she is put on a tour bus with about 50 other kids. At MSU we pride ourselves on our personal approach to recruitment,” Kibler said.
“Parents and students are always impressed with the personality of the campus. It is a very warm and family oriented environment,” he said.
Kibler also said that the university has benefited from a lot of positive press in the last year.
“There is a lot of buzz about MSU right now,” he said. “We are doing a lot of exciting things on campus, events like the hiring of a four star general for president brings a lot of positive attention to MSU. People want to come and visit to see what we are doing here.”
Student functions such as Bulldog Bash and high-profile guest speakers also help to attract the attention of potential students, Kibler said.
Changes on campus have also brought attention to MSU. The renovation of the Union and the construction of new residence halls have attracted the attention of other universities as well as prospective students.
“Our residence halls are the best in the Southeast,” Kibler said. “Other schools come to MSU to see how we’ve done it here.”
MSU is the second smallest school in the SEC, but the biggest university in Mississippi.
“We are making a concentrated effort to increase enrollment at MSU, and we are seeing very good signs for the fall. We are the biggest school in Mississippi, and we intend to stay that way,” Kibler said.